8 - Noncompete Agreements

Summary

Here, we focus on non-compete agreements (NCAs). NCAs severely limit job mobility and reduce a worker’s opportunities to exploit their human capital. Most NCAs preclude a worker’s ability to obtain a position with a rival employer for six months to two years after separation. In addition, the former employee may not start their own business in the same industry. The economic result of these restrictions is to reduce the labor supply elasticity, which enhances an employer’s ability to depress employee compensation, other benefits, and working conditions.

Employers argue that they need NCAs for two primary reasons. First, upon separation, an employee could take the former employer’s trade secrets to a rival employer. An NCA may solve this problem because many trade secrets, such as short-run production plans, are short-lived. Second, employers often invest in an employee’s human capital with schooling or training. An NCA provides protection for such investments in human capital.

In this chapter, we examine the pros and cons of NCAs. We also examine the Federal Trade Commission’s proposal to ban all NCAs completely.