Overview
I am a PhD candidate in Strategic Management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto (2008-present). I also hold an MBA degree and a BSc in Electrical Engineering both from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. I am mainly interested in the competitive effects of intellectual property rights and the origin and evolution of technologies and industries. You can find my Rotman profile here.
Research
Competitive Effects of Patent Pools In this study, I look at the competitive effects of patent pools.This project is still in early stages.
Revisiting the Effects of Intellectual Property Fragmentation on Firms' Patenting Rate In this project, I study the effects of the fragmentation of property rights on subsequent investment in new inventions. In this study I look at the interaction between the incentives for firms to engage in patent proliferation strategies to protect their inventions against multiple external right owners and countervailing disincentives associated with possible infringement costs of patenting in technology areas with dense and overlapping rights. At the broad level, this study illustrates how a dense web of fragmented and overlapping property rights may eventually lead to technological stagnation especially in areas where innovations are cumulative and complementary. This study extends the current academic literature by providing a more holistic image of how the external allocation of property rights can affect the firms' patenting behavior. - Paper accepted for presentation at DRUID, 2011,Copenhagen, Denmark. - Paper accepted for presentation at the Academy of Management Conference, 2011, San Antonio - Paper accepted for presentation at the Strategic Management Society Conference, 2011, Miami.
Patterns in the Emergence of Nanotechnology: The Case of Fullerenes (with Sarah Kaplan) In this project, we look at the formation and development of nanotechnology industry in its nascent phase from a temporal and spatial perspective. The evolution of technologies has been previously studied in later stages of their life cycle. Yet we still lack a systematic multi-dimensional analysis of technological development in the era of ferment. In this study, we propose a new methodology 'topic modeling' to evaluate the emergence and interpretation of new technologies and use this approach to examine trends in the field of nanotechnology. The study is based on a comprehensive dataset of all nanotube-related patents supplemented with extensive information about the companies and inventors to whom the patents are granted. Using the text analysis of patent abstracts we investigate how different technological themes have evolved and diffused over time, space, and across technological boundaries. The results of the study can contribute significantly to our understanding of the origin of industries and technological trajectories, their development over time, and the role of different institutions through their formation. The first paper out of this project has been presented at Wharton Technology Conference and EGOS Colloquium in April and July 2011 respectively.
Resume
(click for PDF version) Education 2008-Present, PhD Candidate in Strategic Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto 2006-2008, Master of Business Administration (MBA),Sharif University of Technology, Tehran,Iran 2001-2006, B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering,Sharif University of Technology, Tehran,Iran Fields of Interest Intellectual Property Rights Origin and Evolution of Technologies and Industries Entrepreneurship Knowledge Spillovers Honors, Awards, & Fellowships SMS Doctoral Workshop Sponsorship Award, Strategic Management Society, 2011 NBER Entrepreneurship Research Boot Camp, Student Fellow, NBER/Kauffman Foundation, 2011 Distinguished Robert J. Litschert Best Doctoral Student Paper Award, Business Policy and Strategy division of the Academy of Management, 2011 Doctoral Fellowship, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, 2008-Present Graduate Student Endowment Award, University of Toronto, 2008-Present Fellowship, Sharif University of Technology, 2001-2008 Works in Progress Competitive Effects of Patent Pools Revisiting the Effects of Intellectual Property Fragmentation on Firms' Patenting Rate Patterns in the Emergence of Nanotechnology: The Case of Fullerenes (with Sarah Kaplan) Papers in Refereed Conferences Vakili, Keyvan; "Strategic Patenting and the Tragedy of Anticommons: A Closer Look at Firms' Patenting Behavior": - DRUID, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011 - Academy of Management Conference, San Antonio, 2011 - Strategic Management Society Conference, Miami, 2011 Kaplan, Sarah; Vakili, K.; "Patterns in the Emergence of Nanotechnology: The Case of Fullerenes" - Wharton Technology Conference, Philadelphia, 2011 - EGOS Colloquium, Gothenburg, 2011 - West Coast Research Symposium, Seattle, 2011 Academic Experience 2011-2012, Research Assistant for Anita McGahan, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. 2009-2010, Research Assistant for Sarah Kaplan, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. 2010-2011, Teaching Assistant, Strategic Management (Commerce program), Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. 2010-2011, Teaching Assistant, Entrepreneurship (Commerce program), Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. 2007-2008, Teaching Assistant, Advanced Strategic Management (MBA course), Sharif University of Technology. 2007-2008, Teaching Assistant, System Dynamics for Business Policy (MBA Course), Sharif University of Technology. 2006-2007, Teaching Assistant, System Dynamics for Business Policy (MBA Course), Sharif University of Technology. 2005-2006, Teaching Assistant, System Dynamics for Business Policy (MBA Course), Sharif University of Technology. 2005-2006, Instructor, System Dynamics, Center for Technology Studies, Sharif University of Technology. 2005-2006, Instructor, Learning Organization, Tazarv Afzar Inc.
Contact
University of Toronto Rotman School of Management 105 St. George Street Toronto, ON M5S 3E6, Canada Email: keyvan.vakili08 (at) rotman.utoronto.ca