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Wrongful Discharge Laws and Innovation

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Viral V. Acharya
  • Ramin P. Baghai
  • Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian

Abstract

We show that wrongful discharge laws--laws that protect employees against unjust dismissal--spur innovation and new firm creation. Wrongful discharge laws, particularly those that prohibit employers from acting in bad faith ex post, limit employers' ability to hold up innovating employees after the innovation is successful. By reducing the possibility of holdup, these laws enhance employees'innovative efforts and encourage firms to invest in risky but potentially mould-breaking projects. We develop a model and provide supporting empirical evidence of this effect using the staggered adoption of wrongful discharge laws across U.S. states. The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com., Oxford University Press.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hht009
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Article provided by Society for Financial Studies in its journal The Review of Financial Studies.

Volume (Year): 27 (2014)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 301-346

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Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:27:y:2014:i:1:p:301-346
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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
  • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
  • J8 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards
  • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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Cited by:

  1. Filippo Belloc, 2015. "Employee Representation Legislations and Innovation," Department of Economics University of Siena 719, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
  2. Brushwood, James & Dhaliwal, Dan & Fairhurst, Douglas & Serfling, Matthew, 2016. "Property crime, earnings variability, and the cost of capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 142-173.
  3. Viral V. Acharya & Zhaoxia Xu, 2013. "Financial Dependence and Innovation: The Case of Public versus Private Firms," NBER Working Papers 19708, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Seru, Amit, 2014. "Firm boundaries matter: Evidence from conglomerates and R&D activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 381-405.
  5. Ramana Nanda & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Financing Innovation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 445-462, December.
  6. Chang, Xin & Fu, Kangkang & Low, Angie & Zhang, Wenrui, 2015. "Non-executive employee stock options and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 168-188.
  7. Bertoni, Fabio & Tykvová, Tereza, 2015. "Does governmental venture capital spur invention and innovation? Evidence from young European biotech companies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 925-935.
  8. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
  9. Chen, Chen & Chen, Yangyang & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Podolski, Edward J., 2016. "Be nice to your innovators: Employee treatment and corporate innovation performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 78-98.
  10. Adhikari, Hari P. & Choi, Wonseok & Sah, Nilesh B., 2017. "That is what friends do: employee friendliness and innovation," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 65-76.
  11. Acharya, Viral V & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2014. "Financial Dependence and Innovation: The Case of Public versus Private Firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 9829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  12. Seitz, Michael & Watzinger, Martin, 2017. "Contract enforcement and R&D investment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 182-195.
  13. Cornaggia, Jess & Mao, Yifei & Tian, Xuan & Wolfe, Brian, 2015. "Does banking competition affect innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 189-209.
  14. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Evers, Katalin & Bellmann, Lutz, 2013. "Collective Bargaining and Innovation in Germany: Cooperative Industrial Relations?," IZA Discussion Papers 7871, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  15. Mukherjee, Abhiroop & Singh, Manpreet & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2017. "Do corporate taxes hinder innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 195-221.
  16. Zhu, Hui & Zhu, Steven X., 2017. "Corporate innovation and economic freedom: Cross-country comparisons," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 50-65.
  17. Ghaly, Mohamed & Dang, Viet Anh & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2015. "Cash holdings and employee welfare," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 53-70.
  18. Viral V. Acharya & Ramin P. Baghai & Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian, 2013. "Labor Laws and Innovation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 997-1037.
  19. Andreas Bastgen & Christian Holzner, 2015. "Employment Protection and the Market for Innovations," CESifo Working Paper Series 5275, CESifo Group Munich.

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