Evan Starr

Professor of Management and Organization at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business whose research examines employee mobility, entrepreneurship, innovation, and the economic effects of noncompete agreements.

Noncompete Enforcement Reduces Mobility and Innovation Despite Firm Investment Claims

Economists Steven Davis and Evan Starr examine whether states should enforce noncompete agreements, a contract tool Starr says now reaches well beyond executives and trade-secret holders to low-wage workers, interns, and janitors. Starr argues the evidence points to weak worker consent, continued use of unenforceable clauses, and lower innovation where noncompetes are enforced; Davis presses the countercase that some clauses may protect legitimate firm investments in training, clients, or confidential information. Their disagreement centers on whether law can distinguish those uses cheaply enough, or whether broader bans and bright-line rules are the better response.

Hoover InstitutionMay 7, 202617 min read