PhD Defence: Stefan Ruehl

In order to obtain the PhD degree, Stefan Ruehl has submitted his thesis entitled:

The partitioning of ownership rights: Essays on the partitioning of control in corporate venture capital partnerships 

The partitioning of ownership rights Essays on the partitioning of control in corporate venture capital partnerships This dissertation examines how new ventures partition ownership rights in their contracts and how these choices are related to innovation and exit outcomes. Using a hand-coded dataset of U.S. healthcare corporate venture capital agreements linked to patenting, financing, and founder career data, the three self-contained chapters show (1) how termination provisions condition the consequences of corporate investor withdrawal and interact with self-enforcing governance; (2) investor approval rights that constrain venture authority over resource use versus surplus decisions are associated with distinct patterns of new venture innovative performance outcomes; and (3) founding team and deal characteristics are linked to selective control constraints of the entrepreneurial team through approval rights. Together, the findings advance the property rights perspective on interfirm governance and offer practical insights for entrepreneurs and investors on designing contracts to support entrepreneurial projects.

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:

Professor Nicolai Juul Foss
Department of Strategy and Innovation
Copenhagen Business School 

Secondary Supervisors: 

Associate Professor Ali Mohammadi
Department of Strategy and Innovation
Copenhagen Business School 

Assessment Committee:

Professor Vera Rocha (Chair)
Department of Strategy and Innovation
Copenhagen Business School 

Professor Doctor Carolin Häussler
Chair of Organisation, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship
University of Passau 

Professor Silvio Vismara
Department of Management
University of Bergamo 

Date: 5 September 2025
Time: 14:00-16:00
Online: TEAMS

Location: Kilen
Room: K146
Reception: Atrium, Kilen

*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.