Following state-level legal changes that increase labor dismissal costs, firms increase their innovation in new processes that facilitate the adoption of cost-saving production methods, especially in industries with a large share of labor costs in total costs. Firms with high innovation ability exhibit larger increases in process innovation and capital-labor ratios, an effect driven by both increases in capital investment and decreases in employment. By facilitating the adjustment of the input mix when conditions in input markets change, innovation ability allows firms to mitigate value losses and is a key driver of their performance.

Why do firms offer nonwage compensation instead of the equivalent amount in financial compensation? We argue that firms use nonwage benefits, specifically female-friendly benefits, such as maternity leave, to increase gender diversity by efficiently attracting women. Using Glassdoor data, we show that firms offer higher-quality maternity leave benefits in labor markets in which female talent is relatively scarce. This result also holds more generally when examining all female-friendly nonwage benefits and is not present when looking at gender-neutral benefits. Moreover, using staggered adoption of state laws, we show that voluntary provision of these benefits can increase firm value. Wei Jiang.