U.S. Treasury's recent study reveals anti-competitive labor practices depressing wages amidst COVID-era 'tight labor market' narrative. Biden Administration proposes reforms in response to "The State of Labor Market Competition." Research by Maryland Smith's Evan Starr cited, highlighting detrimental impacts of noncompete and nondisclosure agreements on workers. Insightful testimony informs legislative action.

It wasn’t the most talked-about hearing on Capitol Hill this week, but for workers across the economy, the topic was vital. Evan Starr, assistant professor of management and organization at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, testified Tuesday before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, about competition in labor markets.

Professor Evan Starr at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business was awarded the 2017 Research Communicator Impact Award from the University of Maryland. The award recognizes faculty members who take a proactive approach to sharing their research with the public.

Amazon does it. So do Jimmy John’s and many other companies. They require new employees to sign noncompete clauses, a practice now being pushed on low-income workers, limiting their freedom in the labor market. In a recent set of projects, Evan Starr, assistant professor of management and organization at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, surveyed some 11,500 workers about their experiences with noncompetes, which companies often hide among routine forms new employees sign during the hiring process.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The White House has announced it will confront an issue that might be producing inefficiencies in the labor market and suppressing workers' wages: The overuse — and abuse — of noncompete clauses, which prevent people from moving from one company to another in the same field.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — When you accepted your current job, did you sign a noncompete agreement? "Noncompetes" can lurk among all the routine forms you sign during the hiring process, but they can come back to bite you. Long common in fields such as engineering, and for executives, they are now being pushed on low-income workers, limiting their freedom in the labor market.

It's a trend that's decades in the making. Americans aren't changing jobs as much as they used to.

Maryland Smith’s Evan Starr has extensively studied noncompetes, with the same conclusion: the agreements hurt workers.

A new paper says management researchers should show more data and use a simple graphical tool.