Evan Starr
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evanpstarr.bsky.social
Evan Starr
@evanpstarr.bsky.social

Professor at University of Maryland studying employee mobility, monopsony, contracts, entrepreneurship, and innovation. See www.evanpstarr.com for more on my research.

Economics 38%
Business 18%
With government statistics, it's pretty simple. If you liked the February, March, and April numbers, then you have to accept all the next ones, too. They are produced in the exact same way, it's what the computer spits out, based on the inputs provided. You do not get to cherry pick your stats.
The Friends of #BLS protest the firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.

The rationale for firing her is without merit and undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses, families, and policymakers.
What to make of POTUS's attempt to fire the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)?

Let's run down what knowledgable people are saying...
Trump’s first BLS Commissioner, Bill Beach, calls today’s firing groundless and dangerous.
www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...

Reposted by Evan Starr

5/ 📅July 23
⏰2pm: "Are Hospital Acquisitions of Physician Practices Anticompetitive?" ft #EGgrantee(s) Zack Cooper @stuartcraig.bsky.social @proffionasm.bsky.social
📅July 24
⏰9am: "Clause and Effect: Theory & Field Experimental Evidence on Noncompete Clauses" ft Bo Cowgill & @evanpstarr.bsky.social

🤣 Thanks Mike!

It was great to see you @laurakgee.bsky.social! Thank you for reaching out and letting me jump on your schedule :)

Reposted by Evan Starr

Rest in peace, Ed Leamer

Reposted by Alex Imas, Evan Starr

🚀 Exciting Opportunity! 🚀
#AI keeps me up at night. What will happen to work & workers? 🤔
I'm partnering with Schmidt Sciences to offer up to $200,000 in funding for early-career researchers! 💡
🗓️ Apply by March 31 2025
🙏 spread the word!
🔗 Learn more & apply schmidtsciences.org/ai-at-work
#EconSky

Yes! Thanks for sharing my brief @aaronsojourner.org @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social About a dozen states have noncompetes bans since 2008 ranging from a complete ban to low wage, high wage, and high tech (see faircompetitionlaw.com/2025/02/13/u...).
Updated restrictive covenant “low-wage” threshold/criteria chart
Restrictive covenant wage thresholds and criteria exist in 11 states and D.C. Our updated chart for 2025 is now available.
faircompetitionlaw.com

Reposted by Evan Starr

Big news in labor #antitrust! The US Department of Justice antitrust division & the FTC release new guidelines on business practices affecting workers, like no-poach deals, non-competes, and info sharing—some of which may violate antitrust laws. www.justice.gov/atr/media/13... 🧵

Me too!

Reposted by Evan Starr

There is a widespread notion that men are more ambitious than women.

But this new paper finds no significant gender differences in goal setting or goal pursuit suggesting that gender disparities in educational or professional contexts stem from other factors.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

We just had baby #3 a few months and this just happened to me a few weeks ago! It was both sad (how could I forget a song I sang so many times) and amazing (I forgot!)

Congratulations Paul! A clear and important piece that I hope continues to reach many more ears and eyes.

Reposted by Evan Starr

"This paper identifies an important bias — termed dynamic bias — in fixed effects panel estimators that arises when dynamic feedback [past outcomes influencing current outcomes] is ignored in the estimating equation." klosins.github.io/Klosin_JMP.pdf #econsky
klosins.github.io

At some point, years from now, you will start singing it and forget the words...and that will be a great day

Some of the most important lottery anomalies from the behavioral risk literature (e.g., probability weighting and loss aversion) actually have nothing to do with risk.

They also arise in perfectly deterministic settings.

Lead article in the latest AER issue:
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Great news @annastansbury.bsky.social! Congratulations on a cool paper.
How can policy confront minimum wage non-compliance? Using the case of the US and the UK, @annastansbury.bsky.social @mitsloan.bsky.social @mitiwer.bsky.social argues that improved enforcement alone is insufficient & expected penalties must increase substantially.
doi.org/10.1177/0019...
Lots of new econ lovers here & lots of new resources. A🧵.

The #EconSky feed built by @paulgp.com is the central place for econ discussion here.

Displays posts with that tag. Click here, Pin it. Shows up as a tab on far right of ur Home screen ribbon

8 more resources...
bsky.app/profile/paul...

Reposted by Evan Starr

Just spent 48 hours in DC bouncing between academic conferences and the think tank world.

I learned a ton in both settings but came away depressed at how little the two worlds understand each other's value.

Well Deserved Jon! Congratulations!

Reposted by Evan Starr

When I started to supervise master theses, students had somehow heard of the PROCESS macro. Even some colleagues were working with it. When I looked into it, I couldn't believe what I saw. Then @dingdingpeng.the100.ci approached me to write a paper about its shortcomings. Now it reached 200 cites! 📈

I'm sure she was Soo appreciative!

Reposted by Evan Starr

Meanqhile, the FTC is holding its seventeenth annual conference, with presentations by @evanpstarr.bsky.social, Pinar Yildirim and Zach Cooper.

Programme here:
www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

3/5
Seventeenth Annual Microeconomics Conference
The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Economics and the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University will host the 17th Annual FTC Microeconomics Conference on November 14 and 15, 2024 in
www.ftc.gov

Reposted by Evan Starr

📢 New publication alert! “The Year in Review: Economics at the #Antitrust Division 2023–2024” with @susanathey.bsky.social, Alex Gross, and Jennifer Shanefelter. Labor market competition is protected by the 2023 Merger Guidelines. doi.org/10.1007/s111... #EconSky
For Bluesky-Curious Econ Lovers, a Quick Start guide to plugging into the economics community here.

It aims to lower the costs & boost the benefits for folks to engage here.

If it seems useful, please share it here & especially on X.
📉📈 #️⃣#️⃣
aaronsojourner.org/for-bluesky-...
For Bluesky-Curious Econ Lovers - Aaron Sojourner
This Quick Start guide aims to help econ lovers easily join Bluesky’s growing economics community. The Bluesky User FAQ covers generic basics, like how to start an account. This guide orients you to e...
aaronsojourner.org

This made me lol Aaron!

Reposted by Evan Starr

Happy @evanpstarr.bsky.social Day to all who celebrate! May the job offers be ever in your favor.
www.ftc.gov/news-events/...
FTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes
Today, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule to promote competition by banning noncompetes nationwide, protecting the fundamen
www.ftc.gov