Innovation Management Research

Prior authorization (PA) is widely used to manage utilization of high-cost health services, yet it imposes administrative burdens and can delay care. As generative AI is increasingly deployed to automate both the submission of prior authorization requests by providers and authorization decisions by insurers, raising questions about the effectiveness of gatekeeping as a utilization management ...Read More

I am interested in understanding how high-growth, knowledge-based startups acquire human capital against the backdrop of the challenges and dilemmas that come with rapid organizational expansion. Human capital is a critical resource for these firms, allowing for increased production, knowledge, and resources. However, the dynamic nature of high-growth periods also poses significant challenges. Against the ...Read More

Many firms have identified opportunities to innovate, but can’t connect them with potential solutions within other parts of their organization. The purpose of this project is to test the hypothesized reasons why these internal opportunity markets are inefficient and evaluate possible ways to improve them. Read More

In this project, we aim to present theory and empirical evidence connecting firms’ movements up the AI “stack”: the series of technology innovations leading to AI-enabled prediction and comprised of prior investments in networks, databases, big data, etc. Read More

In one of our recent studies, we found that nearly 50% of patients who desired emotional support during their hospitalizations reported that they did not always receive it. Not receiving such support is associated with poorer patient-reported care experiences, which research links to issues such as low adherence to treatment plans and ultimately worse clinical ...Read More

Regulators often seek to spur the adoption of green technologies (such as electric vehicles) using one of two financial subsidies: lowering the upfront cost of buying the technology (such as an electric vehicle subsidy) and lowering the marginal cost of using the technology (such as an electricity tariff subsidy). This project evaluates how the economic ...Read More

Sophia Pink, PhD Candidate, Operations, Information, and Decisions, The Wharton School; Jose Cervantez, PhD Candidate, Operations, Information, and Decisions, The Wharton School; Katy Milkman, Operations, Information, and Decisions, The Wharton School Abstract: When people want to build multiple habits, is it better to start them all at once or to layer them on gradually? This project ...Read More

Tiantian Yang, Management, The Wharton School Abstract: Female-led ventures in female-focused industries (e.g., FemTech) face a unique tension between authenticity and perceived legitimacy in the eyes of potential employees. While identity-based lived experience can signal market insight and mission alignment, it may also conflict with gendered norms about who leads high-growth ventures. This project explores how ...Read More

Private Equity (PE) investment in healthcare is growing rapidly. Because medical-technology firms shape healthcare innovation, spending, and quality—and rely heavily on public insurance reimbursements—PE ownership in this sector could have substantial long-term implications for innovation, costs, and patient outcomes. Yet most existing research on PE in health care focuses on care delivery, despite 63% of ...Read More

Standard Pigouvian theory predicts that externalities should be corrected at the margin. However, demand distortions such as credit constraints or behavioral biases create a wedge between marginal benefit and marginal cost. While these distortions can lower aggregate abatement, they can increase the efficiency of green subsidy spending. In theory, this happens through two channels: by ...Read More