More than 600 economists including Nobel Prize winner Claudia Goldin have spoken out against the appointment of a new chief at Germany’s leading labor-market research institute, citing allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power that surfaced last year on social media.

In an open letter Tuesday on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the economists expressed “profound dismay” that Armin Falk was appointed to take over the leadership of the Institute of Labor Economics, known as IZA, starting Jan. 1. They said the appointment would be “deeply damaging” to IZA, one of the top labor-market research institutes in the world.