Does the noncompete clause have an effect on the day-to-day behavior of employees? Well, yes — and to the very employees who are most desirable.
While noncompetes do constrain mobility in a demonstrable way, more important was that these effects were amplified for inventors with particular characteristics. As [research author Matt] Marx explains, the results suggest that “star” or “specialist” inventors wishing to explore career opportunities may need to look outside a state that enforces noncompetes.
Marx, it turns out, has first-hand experience in the noncompete world. And he discovered the easy way that a noncompete signed in Boston didn’t hold much water in Silicon Valley.
