Regulating Damage Clauses in (Labor) Contracts

This paper analyzes the role of damage clauses in labor contracts, using a model in which a worker may want to terminate his current employment relationship and work for another firm. It is shown that the initial parties to a contract have an incentive to stipulate excessive damage clauses, which leads to ex post inefficiencies. This result is due to rent-seeking motives (a) between the contracting parties vis-à-vis third parties and (b) among the contracting parties themselves. Moreover, by imposing an upper bound on the amount of enforceable damages, a regulator can induce a Pareto improvement; in some cases even the first best can be achieved.