Nur Ahmed - Research

Publications

The growing influence of industry in AI research (with N Thompson, M Wahed). Science. 2023
- Selected media coverage: Financial Times, Venturebeat

Working Papers

Scientific Labor Market and Firm-level Appropriation Strategy in Artificial Intelligence Research

(Manuscript in preparation for Strategic Management Journal)Abstract: Different kinds of literature have suggested inconsistent answers to motivations behind a firm’s publications strategy. Concern is unlike patents, publications do not afford property rights but rather they increase the chances of expropriation. A key unanswered question in the literature is: when do firms use publications as an instrument to recruit scientists? Drawing on the innovation literature, I argue that when a labor market shortage affords scientists higher bargaining power, firms tend to disclose more internal research via publications. To test this hypothesis, I use a novel dataset of 200 million job posts and 1.7 million firm-level publications. For identification strategy, I exploit the variation in AI exposure at the firm level, which influences firm-level demand for AI talents but not AI publications. Finally, by linking firm-level labor demand with firm-level publications I demonstrate how human capital bargaining power increases firm-level R&D disclosure. This relationship is particularly salient when firms need highly trained scientists (e.g., PhD holders). Further, I document that labor demand increases the number of AI publications, but only in the same fields of increased demands. Finally, using a novel methodology, I document that labor shortage did not increase the number of patent-paper pairs or simultaneous disclosure of the same research projects in both patents and papers.

Trigger Events and the Evolution of Scientific Research: Organizations Shaping Research in Artificial Intelligence (with R Mostafa)

(Manuscript in preparation for Organization Science)

The De-democratization of AI: Deep Learning and the Compute Divide in Artificial Intelligence Research (with M Wahed)

Working Paper (Target: Research Policy)

Nominated, Best PhD Paper Prize, SMS, 2020

Nominated, Research Methods Paper Prize, SMS 2020

Media coverage: VentureBeat, Scientific American, Axios, Marginal Revolution, The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence and Stanford AI Index (2021).

[Digitial value capture around a policy shock] (with M Joshi, JP Vergne & N Su)

(Manuscript in preparation for submission)

Honorable Mention, Organization Theory Division, ASAC, Canada 2019

Best Paper Award, Strategic IT track, AMCIS, USA 2018

Work in Progress

Algorithmic Patents, Algorithm Improvements and Firms’ Market Value (with N Thompson and S Choi)

(Data analysis, target: Strategic Management Journal)

Responsible AI and Firm-level Strategic Disclosure (with Nan Jia)

(Data analysis, target: Strategic Management Journal)

Technological Discontinuities and R&D Collaboration Strategies: How Deep Learning Changed Firm-level Collaboration Strategies in Artificial Intelligence

Nominated, Best PhD Paper Prize, SMS, 2020

Finalist, Max Boisot Award, EGOS, July 2018

Winner, Lazaridis Institute Entrepreneurship Poster Competition at WLU, June 2018

Dormant projects:

• #GirlPower: Women’s Political Empowerment and Female Entrepreneurship (With M Seong)

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 2018

1st Runner-up, Lazaridis Institute Entrepreneurship Poster Competition at WLU June 2018

• Determinants of Firms Nonmarket Strategy: Ownership and Lobbying in Emerging Economies

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 2017

Research Position

Research Fellow, The Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab, Ivey Business School, October 2018 - June 2021