Anti-Harassment Policy and the Startup Labor Market

This paper examines how anti-harassment reforms that weaken non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in sexual harassment cases affect the startup labor market. Using a staggered difference-in-differences design and LinkedIn data on over 50,000 U.S. VC-backed startups from 2014--2022, we find that NDA reforms reduce female hiring by about 8% annually without affecting male hiring, with effects concentrated among junior women and in small or male-dominated startups. Treated firms also experience more male manager departures, promote more women, and receive less VC funding. While NDA-weakening laws raise perceived legal risk and reduce female hiring, they trigger organizational restructuring that advances women into leadership.