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Job-hopping in Silicon Valley: some evidence concerning the micro-foundations of a high technology cluster

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Author Info
Bruce Fallick
Charles A. Fleischman
James B. Rebitzer

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Abstract

In Silicon Valley's computer cluster, skilled employees are reported to move rapidly between competing firms. If true, this job-hopping facilitates the reallocation of resources towards firms with superior innovations, but it also creates human capital externalities that reduce incentives to invest in new knowledge. Outside of California, employers can use non-compete agreements to reduce mobility costs, but these agreements are unenforceable under California law. Until now, the claim of "hyper-mobility" of workers in Silicon has not been rigorously investigated. 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 state laws restricting non-compete agreements. Outside of the computer industry, California's mobility rates are no higher than elsewhere.

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Paper provided by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.) in its series Finance and Economics Discussion Series with number 2005-11.

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Date of creation: 2005
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2005-11

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Related research
Keywords: Labor mobility - California ; Computer industry - California ; High technology industries - California;

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  2. Acemoglu, Daron, 1996. "A Microfoundation for Social Increasing Returns in Human Capital Accumulation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 111(3), pages 779-804, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Jarle Møen, 2000. "Is Mobility of Technical Personnel a Source of R&D Spillovers?," NBER Working Papers 7834, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Rotemberg, Julio J. & Saloner, Garth, 2000. "Competition and human capital accumulation: a theory of interregional specialization and trade," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 373-404, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Enrico Moretti, 2004. "Workers' Education, Spillovers, and Productivity: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 656-690, June. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Bruce Fallick & Charles A. Fleischman, 2004. "Employer-to-employer flows in the U.S. labor market: the complete picture of gross worker flows," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2004-34, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  9. Michael Porter, 2003. "The Economic Performance of Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 37(6-7), pages 545-546, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Moretti, Enrico, 2004. "Estimating the social return to higher education: evidence from longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 175-212. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Evers, Hans-Dieter, 2008. "Knowledge hubs and knowledge clusters: Designing a knowledge architecture for development," MPRA Paper 8778, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Edward L. Glaeser & William R. Kerr, 2008. "Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?," NBER Working Papers 14407, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Jean-Etienne De Bettignies & Gilles Chemla, 2008. "Corporate Venturing, Allocation of Talent, and Competition for Star Managers," Post-Print halshs-00365942_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ron Boschma & Rikard Eriksson & Urban Lindgren, 2008. "Labour mobility, related variety and the performance of plants: A Swedish study," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 0809, Utrecht University, Section of Economic Geography, revised May 2008. [Downloadable!]
  5. Natalia Mishagina, 2007. "Empirical Analysis of Career Transitions of Sciences and Engineering Doctorates in the US," Working Papers 1137, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Oliver Falck & Michael Fritsch & Stephan Heblich, 2008. "The Apple doesn't Fall far from the Tree: Location of Start-Ups Relative to Incumbents," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Hoyt Bleakley & Jeffrey Lin, 2007. "Thick-market effects and churning in the labor market: evidence from U.S. cities," Working Papers 07-23, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
  8. Cécile Aubert & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich, 2008. "Subsidizing National Champions: An Evolutionary Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ulrich Kaiser & Hans Christian Kongsted & Thomas Rønde, 2008. "Labor Mobility and Patenting Activity," CAM Working Papers 2008-07, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics. [Downloadable!]
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