← Research POLICY REPORT · 2023

The Effects of Noncompete Agreement Reforms on Business Formation: A Comparison of Hawaii and Oregon

Benjamin Glasner

Economic Innovation Group

Summary

This research note compares two state-level noncompete reforms: Hawaii’s exemption for technology-sector workers and Oregon’s reform covering lower-wage workers. Hawaii’s targeted tech-sector exemption is associated with a 10 percent increase in the number of technology establishments, while Oregon’s broader low-wage reform shows no statistically significant effect on business formation. The contrast suggests that restricting noncompetes spurs entrepreneurship most effectively when it covers higher-skilled, knowledge-based workers.

A plain-language summary written for this site, not the authors' published abstract. See the published version for the original.

Cite this

Benjamin Glasner. 2023. “The Effects of Noncompete Agreement Reforms on Business Formation: A Comparison of Hawaii and Oregon.” Economic Innovation Group. https://eig.org/noncompetes-research-note/.

BibTeX

@techreport{glasner_2023_noncompetes_workingpaper,
  title = {The Effects of Noncompete Agreement Reforms on Business Formation: A Comparison of {Hawaii} and {Oregon}},
  author = {Glasner, Benjamin},
  institution = {Economic Innovation Group},
  year = {2023},
  month = mar,
}