Non-Compete Agreements and Labor Allocation Across Product Markets

This paper analyzes the effect of non-compete agreements on career choices of highly skilled human capital. Employees evade non-compete agreements by switching industries. The identification strategy is based on staggered changes in non-compete enforceability across US states. Employees exposed to increased non-compete agreement enforceability are 50% more likely to move to another industry. The effect is stronger when the employment firm heavily relies on non-compete agreements, as well as for high quality employees. Employees that do change industries subsequently experience a productivity decline of 20%. Overall, stronger non-compete agreement enforcement leads to inefficient reallocation of human capital in our economy.

Presentations: Paris Finance December Meeting 2023, IZA Labor Market Evaluation, Verein für Socialpolitik, Durham Finance Job Market Papers, Transatlantic Doctoral Conference, Labor and Finance Columbia Business School, Swiss Society for Financial Market Research (SGF), Erasmus University Rotterdam, American Economic Association (poster session), Northern Finance Association, IZA Workshop: Labor Market Institutions, Corporate Finance Day, Frankfurt-Mannheim PhD Conference

Angels and Demons: The Negative Effect of Employees' Angel Investments on Corporate Innovation, joint with Santanu Kundu

We link data on angel investors in the US to their employment history and show that employers’ innovation output decreases when their employees personally invest in start-ups. Our evidence is consistent with agency conflicts as the reason for lower innovation output. Angel investors divert time and effort from their employer to their personal investments. The effects are more pronounced when angel investments offer stronger financial incentives. In contrast, start-ups benefit from financing by angel investors employed at public firms. We highlight a trade-off between the benefits of angel investors for start-ups and the costs for their employer.

Presentations: European Finance Association (EFA), Paris Finance December Meeting, Northern Finance Association (NFA), Financial Management Association (FMA), International Corporate Governance Society conference (ICGS), European Financial Management Association (EFMA), Entrepreneurial Finance Conference (ENTFIN), Academy of Management (AOM), French Finance Association (AFFI), Future of Growth Conference, Eastern Finance, Financial Markets and Corporate Governance Conference (FMCG), Southwestern Finance Association (SWFA), Student-led Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation (WEFI), Research on Innovation, Science and Entrepreneurship (RISE3) Workshop

Reaction to Early Failure in University: A Regression Discontinuity Design, joint with Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi

This paper examines gender gaps in persistence in educational attainment. Analyzing the impact of failing the initial mathematics exam on university completion, we show that early academic failure disproportionately undermines male students' persistence in higher education. Utilizing administrative data from a German business school and leveraging a sharp discontinuity at the exam's passing threshold for 8,500 undergraduates, we identify causal effects. The results indicate that female students remain unaffected by failing their first exam, exhibiting greater resilience. In contrast, male students who marginally fail are 14 percentage points (17.5%) less likely to complete their degree. Further analysis, including survey data, suggests that overconfidence and competitiveness create larger negative surprises of failure for male students which may contribute to their higher dropout rates.

Presentations: Verein für Socialpolitik, European Economic Association

Innovation and Motherhood, joint with Stefan Obernberger

We examine whether motherhood affects the careers of female inventors. Following childbirth, the likelihood of female inventors to apply for a patent declines sharply. Using employee-employer matched administrative data of inventors, we show that inventor mothers are more likely to work part time, less likely to move employers, less likely to be employed, and less likely to be promoted after giving birth. An opportunity cost-based maternity benefit payment increases the probability mothers stay in innovation after childbirth. Our research highlights the challenges of balancing motherhood with a career in innovation.

Presentations: American Finance Association (2026, scheduled), Nova School of Business and Economics, Tsinghua University, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management

Satispricing, joint with Patrick Verwijmeren

A substantial fraction of IPOs is priced at exactly the high-end of the pricing range. We find that these IPO prices are predictably biased. Investing in IPOs priced at the high-end leads to first-day returns that are 8 percentage points higher than investing in IPOs that are priced just below or above the high-end. We argue that these results are in line with managerial satisficing, in which managers stop seeking higher outcomes and settle for satisfactory results.

Presentations: RBFC 2024, CUNEF, DGF (2025, scheduled)