IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/upj/weupjo/24-405.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Grads on the Go: The Effect of Franchise No-Poaching Restrictions On Worker Earnings

Author

Listed:
  • Brian Callaci

    (Open Markets Institute)

  • Matthew Gibson

    (Williams College and IZA)

  • Sérgio Pinto

    (University of Maryland at College Park and Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), DINAMIA’CET)

  • Marshall Steinbaum

    (University of Utah)

  • Matt Walsh

    (Lightcast)

Abstract

We evaluate the nationwide impact of the Washington State attorney general’s 2018-2020 enforcement campaign against no-poach clauses in franchising contracts, which prohibited worker movement across locations within a chain. Implementing a staggered difference-in-differences research design using Burning Glass Technologies job vacancies and Glassdoor salary reports from numerous industries, we estimate a 6 percent increase in posted annual earnings from the job vacancy data and a 4 percent increase in worker-reported earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Callaci & Matthew Gibson & Sérgio Pinto & Marshall Steinbaum & Matt Walsh, 2024. "Grads on the Go: The Effect of Franchise No-Poaching Restrictions On Worker Earnings," Upjohn Working Papers 24-405, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-405
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1424&context=up_workingpapers
    Download Restriction: This material is copyrighted. Permission is required to reproduce any or all parts.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marinescu, Ioana & Skandalis, Daphné & Zhao, Daniel, 2021. "The impact of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation on job search and vacancy creation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    2. Thomas Le Barbanchon & Roland Rathelot & Alexandra Roulet, 2021. "Gender Differences in Job Search: Trading off Commute against Wage," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(1), pages 381-426.
    3. Manning, Alan, 2011. "Imperfect Competition in the Labor Market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 11, pages 973-1041, Elsevier.
    4. Daron Acemoglu & David Autor & Jonathon Hazell & Pascual Restrepo, 2022. "Artificial Intelligence and Jobs: Evidence from Online Vacancies," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(S1), pages 293-340.
    5. Jason Sockin & Aaron Sojourner, 2023. "What’s the Inside Scoop? Challenges in the Supply and Demand for Information on Employers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(4), pages 1041-1079.
    6. Azar, José & Marinescu, Ioana & Steinbaum, Marshall & Taska, Bledi, 2020. "Concentration in US labor markets: Evidence from online vacancy data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    7. Brad Hershbein & Lisa B. Kahn, 2018. "Do Recessions Accelerate Routine-Biased Technological Change? Evidence from Vacancy Postings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1737-1772, July.
    8. Gibson, Matthew, 2021. "Employer Market Power in Silicon Valley," IZA Discussion Papers 14843, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Robert E. Hall & Alan B. Krueger, 2012. "Evidence on the Incidence of Wage Posting, Wage Bargaining, and On-the-Job Search," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 56-67, October.
    10. Arindrajit Dube, 2019. "Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 268-304, October.
    11. Michael Lipsitz & Evan Starr, 2022. "Low-Wage Workers and the Enforceability of Noncompete Agreements," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 143-170, January.
    12. Jonathon Hazell & Bledi Taska, 2020. "Downward Rigidity in the Wage for New Hires," Discussion Papers 2028, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    13. Alan B. Krueger & Orley Ashenfelter, 2022. "Theory and Evidence on Employer Collusion in the Franchise Sector," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 324-348.
    14. Kirill Borusyak & Xavier Jaravel & Jann Spiess, 2021. "Revisiting Event Study Designs: Robust and Efficient Estimation," Papers 2108.12419, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2024.
    15. José Azar & Ioana Marinescu & Marshall Steinbaum, 2022. "Labor Market Concentration," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 167-199.
    16. Kevin Rinz, 2022. "Labor Market Concentration, Earnings, and Inequality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 251-283.
    17. Anna Sokolova & Todd Sorensen, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Meta-Analysis," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 27-55, January.
    18. Anna Thoresson, 2024. "Employer Concentration and Wages for Specialized Workers," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 447-479, January.
    19. Jeffrey Clemens & Lisa B. Kahn & Jonathan Meer, 2021. "Dropouts Need Not Apply? The Minimum Wage and Skill Upgrading," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(S1), pages 107-149.
    20. Green, T. Clifton & Huang, Ruoyan & Wen, Quan & Zhou, Dexin, 2019. "Crowdsourced employer reviews and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(1), pages 236-251.
    21. Forsythe, Eliza & Kahn, Lisa B. & Lange, Fabian & Wiczer, David, 2020. "Labor demand in the time of COVID-19: Evidence from vacancy postings and UI claims," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    22. David Deming & Lisa B. Kahn, 2018. "Skill Requirements across Firms and Labor Markets: Evidence from Job Postings for Professionals," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 337-369.
    23. Natarajan Balasubramanian & Jin Woo Chang & Mariko Sakakibara & Jagadeesh Sivadasan & Evan Starr, 2022. "Locked In? The Enforceability of Covenants Not to Compete and the Careers of High-Tech Workers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 349-396.
    24. Angrist, Joshua D & Krueger, Alan B, 1995. "Split-Sample Instrumental Variables Estimates of the Return to Schooling," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 225-235, April.
    25. Efraim Benmelech & Nittai K. Bergman & Hyunseob Kim, 2022. "Strong Employers and Weak Employees: How Does Employer Concentration Affect Wages?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 200-250.
    26. Jean-Sébastien Broc & Gregor Thenius & Dario Di Santo & Barbara Schlomann & Barbara Breitschopf & Jamilja van Der Meulen & Paul van den Oosterkamp & Lovorko Marić & Marko Matosović, 2018. "What can we learn from sharing experience about evaluation practices?," Post-Print hal-02425109, HAL.
    27. Jason Sockin, 2022. "Show Me the Amenity: Are Higher-Paying Firms Better All Around?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9842, CESifo.
    28. Elena Prager & Matt Schmitt, 2021. "Employer Consolidation and Wages: Evidence from Hospitals," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(2), pages 397-427, February.
    29. Nicholas Bloom & Fatih Guvenen & Benjamin S. Smith & Jae Song & Till von Wachter, 2018. "The Disappearing Large-Firm Wage Premium," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 317-322, May.
    30. Roussille, Nina & Scuderi, Benjamin, 2023. "Bidding for Talent: A Test of Conduct in a High-Wage Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 16352, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Callaci, Brian & Gibson, Matthew & Pinto, Sergio & Steinbaum, Marshall & Walsh, Matt, 2023. "The Effect of Franchise No-Poaching Restrictions on Worker Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 16330, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Popp, Martin, 2024. "Minimum Wages in Concentrated Labor Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 17357, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Dami'an Vergara, 2022. "Minimum Wages and Optimal Redistribution," Papers 2202.00839, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    4. Bassanini, Andrea & Batut, Cyprien & Caroli, Eve, 2023. "Labor Market Concentration and Wages: Incumbents versus New Hires," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Bustos, Emil, 2023. "The Effect of Centrally Bargained Wages on Firm Growth," Working Paper Series 1456, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    6. Abi Adams-Prassl & Tom Waters & Maria Balgova & Matthias Qian, 2023. "Firm concentration & job design: the case of schedule flexible work arrangements," IFS Working Papers W23/14, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Alan Manning, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 3-26, January.
    8. Francesco Devicienti & Elena Grinza & Alessandro Manello & Davide Vannoni, 2025. "Employer cooperation, productivity and wages: new evidence from inter‐firm formal network agreements," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 92(365), pages 1-41, January.
    9. Yue Qiu & Aaron Sojourner, 2023. "Labor-Market Concentration and Labor Compensation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 475-503, May.
    10. José Azar & Emiliano Huet & Ioana Marinescu & Bledi Taska & Till von, 2024. "Minimum Wage Employment Effects and Labour Market Concentration," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(4), pages 1843-1883.
    11. Martins, Pedro S. & Melo, António, 2024. "Making their own weather? Estimating employer labour-market power and its wage effects," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    12. Emilio Colombo & Alberto Marcato, 2021. "Skill Demand and Labour Market Concentration: Theory and Evidence from Italian Vacancies," DISEIS - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo dis2104, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo (DISEIS).
    13. David Berger & Kyle Herkenhoff & Simon Mongey, 2022. "Labor Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(4), pages 1147-1193, April.
    14. Holt, Andrew Chase, 2024. "Monopsony power in the United States: Evidence from the great depression," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. Gibson, Matthew, 2021. "Employer Market Power in Silicon Valley," IZA Discussion Papers 14843, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Murillo Campello & Gaurav Kankanhalli & Pradeep Muthukrishnan, 2020. "Corporate Hiring under COVID-19: Labor Market Concentration, Downskilling, and Income Inequality," NBER Working Papers 27208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Sabien Dobbelaere & Boris Hirsch & Steffen Mueller & Georg Neuschaeffer, 2024. "Organized Labor, Labor Market Imperfections, and Employer Wage Premia," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 77(3), pages 396-427, May.
    18. Kahn, Matthew E. & Tracy, Joseph, 2024. "Monopsony in spatial equilibrium," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    19. Marinescu, Ioana & Ouss, Ivan & Pape, Louis-Daniel, 2021. "Wages, hires, and labor market concentration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 506-605.
    20. Timothy Perri Perri, 2023. "The Death of Labor Market Competition Has Been Greatly Exaggerated," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 38(Summer 20), pages 39-54.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employer market power; oligopsony; monopsony; franchising chains; antitrust; wages; salaries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-405. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/upjohus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.