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The Effects of Non-Compete Agreements on Different Types of Self-Employment: Evidence from Massachusetts and Utah

Author

Listed:
  • Can, Ege

    (University of Nevada, Reno)

  • Fossen, Frank M.

    (University of Nevada, Reno)

Abstract

The economic effects of non-compete agreements have received increasing attention from academics and policymakers. This paper investigates how non-compete policies affect different types of self-employment. We exploit policy reforms in Utah and Massachusetts in 2016 and 2018, which decreased the enforceability of non-compete covenants, as quasi-experiments. We separate self-employment into self-employment with incorporated businesses (as a proxy for entrepreneurship) and self-employment with unincorporated businesses. Using representative individual-level data from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey, we estimate the probability of being self-employed with these different types of businesses, as well as entry into self-employment, and how these probabilities changed due to the reforms. Our findings show that the decrease in the enforceability of non-compete agreements in the two states resulted in a higher rate of incorporated self-employment in these states. In contrast, there was no sizable effect on the rate of unincorporated self-employment. Our results imply that states can promote entrepreneurial activity by reducing the enforceability of non-compete agreements.

Suggested Citation

  • Can, Ege & Fossen, Frank M., 2020. "The Effects of Non-Compete Agreements on Different Types of Self-Employment: Evidence from Massachusetts and Utah," IZA Discussion Papers 13414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13414
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    incorporated; non-compete agreements; entrepreneurship; unincorporated;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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