Xuelai Li
PhD Candidate in Finance
Welcome! I am a Finance PhD Candidate at Imperial College London. My research mainly focuses on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation. I am also interested in issues related to public R&D investments and economics of science.
I am on the Finance job market during the 2025-26 academic year.
Working Papers
Venture Capital and Scientists' Selection into Entrepreneurship [Job Market Paper]
Presentation: AFA (scheduled), FMA Special PhD Paper Presentations (scheduled), SFA (scheduled), RAPS/RCFS Europe Conference (scheduled), DGF Annual Meeting (scheduled), Scientific Workshop on Productivity (scheduled), HEC Paris Finance PhD Workshop (scheduled), BSE Summer Forum, Wharton Innovation Doctoral Symposium, FMA Europe Doctoral Student Consortium
Poster: Imperial UK Women in Finance​​​​
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Complementarity in R&D Investment: Evidence from Space Race​
Presentation: DRUID Academy, Luiss Institute for European Analysis and Policy
Poster: International Conference on the Science of Science and Innovation
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Technology Literacy and Deep Tech Investment: Evidence from VC Industry
with Yuchen Chen, Can Huang​​
Poster: Helsinki Finance Summit (scheduled)
Work in Progress
Path Dependence of Early-Stage Equity Investments
​with Jamie Coen, Patrick Coen, Ramana Nanda, Savitar Sundaresan​
Presentation: Cambridge PE, VC and Innovation Conference*
* by co-authors