Ricky Xu Yao

I am a PhD Candidate in Accounting at the University of Hong Kong and a Tax Policy Network Fellow. I am on the 2026–2027 job market. During 2025, I was a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

My research examines firms' responses to tax policies, with a focus on innovation and disclosure. In my job market paper, I study how patent box incentives shape firms’ relative reliance on trade secrecy and patenting, and trace the downstream consequences for knowledge spillovers, productivity, and industry structure.

Before doctoral studies, I led the global transfer pricing function of a multinational technology group. Prior to that, I worked in PwC’s Global Transfer Pricing and Value Chain Transformation practice across its offices in the U.S., Canada, and Hong Kong. I hold an M.S. in Economics from Texas A&M University. I am a CFA charterholder and a certified Financial Risk Manager.