Employee spinoffs may harm incumbent firm owners for two reasons: first, they increase competition in relevant product markets, potentially decreasing rents associated with market power. Second, the threat of an employee spinoff may prevent a firm owner from making costly, productivity-enhancing...

We study the effects of noncompete contracts in an environment where firms invest in training junior workers. After obtaining employer-provided training, trained workers can choose whether to remain loyal to their initial employer or switch to the competing employer. We evaluate the effects of...

Worker mobility across firms can enhance innovation by spreading knowledge, but such mobility may also hinder innovation by making firms reluctant to invest in R&D. A common way that firms limit workers' mobility is with noncompete agreements (NCAs). We examine how the legal enforceability of...

How do noncompete agreements between workers and firms affect wages and employment in equilibrium? We build a tractable framework of wage posting with on-the-job search and large employers that provides a natural laboratory to assess anti-competitive practices in the labor market. We...