We consider the effect of employee stock options on employee mobility and employee entrepreneurship. Employee stock options are firm-specific, long-term, equity-based incentive instruments—attractive properties for affecting employee behaviors and decisions. We argue that employee stock options reduce employee mobility levels. By contrast, we posit that employee stock options increase employee entrepreneurship levels, and even more so when a firm's knowledge scope is narrow. Using the semiconductor industry as the setting, we document not only the negative effect of employee stock options on employee mobility levels but also the positive impact on employee entrepreneurship levels; the positive impact is also more substantial in firms with a narrow knowledge scope. We contribute to the literature that examines the influence of organizational conditions on the origins of entrepreneurship. We also inform research on strategic human capital by explicating the divergent effects of firm-specific incentives on two crucial human capital outcomes for firms.

中文翻译：

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公司特定激励措施（股票期权）对流动性和员工创业的影响

我们考虑员工股票期权对员工流动性和员工创业的影响。员工股票期权是公司特定的、长期的、基于股权的激励工具，具有影响员工行为和决策的有吸引力的特性。我们认为，员工股票期权降低了员工的流动性水平。相比之下，我们认为员工股票期权可以提高员工的创业水平，当公司的知识范围狭窄时更是如此。以半导体行业为背景，我们不仅记录了员工股票期权对员工流动水平的负面影响，还记录了对员工创业水平的积极影响；对于知识范围狭窄的公司来说，积极影响也更大。我们撰写的文献探讨了组织条件对创业起源的影响。我们还通过阐明企业特定激励措施对企业两个关键人力资本结果的不同影响，为战略人力资本研究提供信息。