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), BSE Summer Forum, Wharton Innovation Doctoral Symposium, RAPS/RCFS Europe Conference, Scientific Workshop on Productivity, HEC Paris Finance PhD Workshop, DGF Annual Meeting, FMA Europe Doctoral Student Consortium
Poster: Imperial UK Women in Finance​​​​
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Technology Literacy and Deep Tech Investment: Evidence from VC Industry
with Yuchen Chen and Can Huang​​
Presentation: Wabash River Finance Conference*
Poster: Helsinki Finance Summit
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Complementarity in R&D Investment: Evidence from the Space Race​
Presentation: DRUID Academy, Luiss Institute for European Analysis and Policy
Poster: International Conference on the Science of Science and Innovation
Work in Progress
Path Dependence in Venture Capital Financing
​with Jamie Coen, Patrick Coen, Ramana Nanda, and Savitar Sundaresan​
Presentation: Cambridge PE, VC and Innovation Conference*
* by co-authors