Do Noncompetes Discourage Workers from Improving their Productivity?

Over at Prawfsblog, Orly Lobel (San Diego) blogs about a new study she’s done with her colleague On Amir (UCSD-Business).  They’re studying the issue whether imposing post-employment noncompete clauses on employees makes them less likely to spend time improving their skills since they won’t have as much chance to exploit them.  It makes some intuitive sense — a noncompete makes an employer more willing to invest in training but would decrease the motivation for employees to improve their own skills.  Reducing the ability of employees to leave for greener pastures may also make them less interested in excelling in their current job.  That might mean that noncompetes aren’t an unalloyed good for employers.

So what do Amir and Lobel find?  The answers, it turns out, are complicated.  The whole paper, Innovation Motivation: Behavioral Effects of Post-Employment Restrictions is worth reading.  You can find it here.

 FGS