Resetting the Shot Clock

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how employee mobility impacts the human capital of both those who are new to the organization (movers) and those who are existing members (incumbents). Employee mobility events can disrupt both the location-specific and the colleague-specific components of human capital and thus have different impacts on overall human capital. We test our theory on the disparate effects of location change and personnel change on human capital in the highly interdependent context of the National Basketball Association. We find that movers experience adverse performance shocks after mobility events that are moderated when moving as a group, and we also find that group mobility events hinder the performance improvement of incumbents. Our findings are consistent with the limited transfer of location-specific human capital and the disruption of colleague-specific human capital after mobility events.