Job-hopping in Silicon Valley: Some evidence concerning the microfoundations of a high-technology cluster

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fallick, Bruce; Fleischman, Charles A.; Rebitzer, James B.
• 署名单位: University System of Ohio; Case Western Reserve University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest.88.3.472
• 发表日期: 2006-08
• 页码: 472-481
• 关键词: engineers; education; mobility

摘要

Observers of Silicon Valley's computer cluster report that employees move rapidly between competing firms, but evidence supporting this claim is scarce. Job-hopping is important in computer clusters because it facilitates the reallocation of talent and resources toward firms with superior innovations. Using new data on labor mobility, we find higher rates of job-hopping for college-educated men in Silicon Valley's computer industry than in computer clusters located out of the state. Mobility rates in other California computer clusters are similar to Silicon Valley's, suggesting some role for features of California law that make noncompete agreements unenforceable. Consistent with our model of innovation, mobility rates outside computer industries are no higher in California than elsewhere.