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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Jun Chen; Song Ma; Feng Zhang |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how anti-harassment legal reforms that weaken non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of workplace sexual harassment affect startups' hiring and organizational decisions. Using a staggered difference-in-differences design and LinkedIn data on over 50, 000 U.S. venture-capital-backed startups from 2014–2022, we find that NDA reforms, although intended for employee protection, reduce female hiring by about 8%, with effects concentrated among junior women, who are statistically more prone to sexual harassment, and in small or male-dominated startups. The results apply to both the intensive and extensive margins of female hiring. Treated entrepreneurial firms also witness more departures of male managers, promote more women, and receive less VC funding. These results suggest that while NDA-weakening laws increase firms’ perceived legal risk and reduce female hiring, they also trigger internal restructuring that promotes women's advancement into leadership and may, over time, foster more accountable and inclusive organizational cultures. |
| JEL: | G0 J0 K0 M14 M5 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35187 |
| By: | Elia Benveniste |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of labor management - majority employee ownership of a firm - on firm-level wage distributions and performance. Using matched employer-employee data from Italy, I exploit worker buyouts (WBOs) as sharp transitions from conventional ownership to labor management. I compare WBO firms to observationally similar restructuring firms that remain conventionally owned. Labor management reduces base wages by 9 percent, but (insignificantly) increases total compensation when accounting for profit-based labor dividends. Within-firm wage inequality decreases markedly, and firms become significantly less hierarchical. I find no evidence of lower productivity or reduced investment. Overall, labor management generates substantial within-firm wage compression without reduced operational efficiency. |
| Keywords: | labor management, worker buyouts, wage compression |
| JEL: | G34 J31 J54 M54 P13 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26117 |
| By: | Max-Frederik Neubert; Barbara Schoendube-Pirchegger (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates incentive effects from subjective performance evaluation (SPE) in an agency setting. An employee (agent) is evaluated by his superior (principal) via a subjective, potentially biased, performance report. We assume that this subjectiveness in evaluation affects the utility of both players, causing costs from biasing the report to the principal and benefits (costs) from over- (under-) evaluation to the agent. If the superior chooses the reporting bias sequentially optimal, we find that benefits from subjective, as opposed to objective performance measurement, do not outweigh its costs. If, in contrast, the supervisor is able to commit to an ex ante optimal bias choice, SPE can be beneficial if the agent’s preference for over-evaluation is sufficiently strong. While a centrality bias arises independent from the supervisor’s ability to commit, a leniency bias results only along with an ex ante optimal bias. |
| Keywords: | agency, subjective performance evaluation, behavioral accounting, accuracy, leniency, centrality |
| JEL: | C72 D82 M40 M52 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mag:wpaper:25003 |
| By: | Folke, Olle (Stockholm School of Economics); Hansen, Torbjørn (Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, FFI); Johnsen, Åshild (Oslo Metropolitan University); Kotsadam, Andreas (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research;); Rickne, Johanna (Swedish Institute for Social Research) |
| Abstract: | We develop an information-based intervention against sexual harassment and test it in a randomized control trial across small groups of military recruits in the boot camp of the Norwegian military. The intervention seeks to bridge two knowledge gaps with implications for sexual harassment prevalence. We tell some recruits about their peers’ beliefs that “telling sexualized jokes can be labeled sexual harassment†and about women soldiers’ equal performance on military skill tests. This treatment gives lasting improvements in knowledge about what sexual harassment is and about women’s job performance. The impact on sexual harassment prevalence is directionally negative but statistically insignificant. We discuss measurement error and use survey responses about a harassment scenario to argue that the intervention likely affected behavior. Our study provides the first field experiment to evaluate whether a prevention method against sexual harassment reduces prevalence in a work setting. We use insights from our research process to identify methodological pitfalls and provide guidance for future field experiments in this area. |
| Keywords: | sexual harassment, randomized controlled trial, information provision experiment |
| JEL: | J16 C93 M54 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18637 |
| By: | Fang, Tony (Memorial University of Newfoundland); Gahramanov, Emin (Department of Economics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates); Ming, Hui (College of Economics, Sichuan Agriculture University, Sichuan, China); Tang, Xueli (Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia) |
| Abstract: | Building on seminal contributions by Bloom et al. (2015) and Davis (2024), we develop a simple theoretical model that captures the trade-off between externalities associated with remote work and those derived from in-office work. The model is based on the premise that both productivity and firm profitability are influenced by the intensity or proportion of remote work arrangements by firms. Ultimately, higher workforce productivity and firm profitability due to remote work translate into higher wages. While remote work can lead to cost savings and positive externalities, excessive adoption may undermine benefits, increase management complexity, and raise the risk of employee shirking. The central theoretical result is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the extent of remote work and wages. To test this prediction, we use data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey to examine the relationship between industry-level remote work intensity and individual wages. The empirical findings reveal that wages rise with remote work intensity up to a threshold, approximately 52.1–63.9%, beyond which they begin to decline, supporting the model’s non-linear prediction. |
| Keywords: | work from home, remote work, wages, productivity, externality |
| JEL: | D24 E24 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18643 |
| By: | Valentin Kecht; Alessandro Lizzeri; Farzad Saidi |
| Abstract: | This paper documents that the age at which CEOs are appointed has risen sharply over the past several decades. Using newly assembled data covering a wide set of firms, we show that this increase is concentrated outside the largest listed firms and driven primarily by longer and more diverse external career paths prior to CEO appointment. These patterns are difficult to reconcile with explanations based on demographics, schooling, or tenure, and are instead consistent with a matching framework in which rising demand for generalist human capital leads firms to trade off peak ability for accumulated experience. We investigate the forces behind this shift. Using variation in consulting networks, we establish that firms place greater weight on diversified managerial experience as operating environments have become increasingly uncertain and complex. We also provide evidence for a supply-side response in which prospective CEOs broaden their skill portfolio as demand for generalist skills rises. |
| Keywords: | CEOs, aging, executive labor markets, generalist skills, uncertainty |
| JEL: | D22 J21 J24 M12 M51 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_746 |