Analyzing the Extent and Influence of Occupational Licensing on the Labor Market

Morris Kleiner and Alan B. Krueger ()
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Morris Kleiner: University of Minnesota and NBER

No 1165, Working Papers from Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.

Abstract: This study examines the extent and influence of occupational licensing in the U.S. using a specially designed national labor force survey. Specifically, we provide new ways of measuring occupational licensing and consider what types of regulatory requirements and what level of government oversight contribute to wage gains and variability. Estimates from the survey indicated that 35 percent of employees were either licensed or certified by the government, and that 29 percent were fully licensed. Another 3 percent stated that all who worked in their job would eventually be required to be certified or licensed, bringing the total that are or eventually must be licensed or certified by government to 38 percent. We find that licensing is associated with about 14 percent higher wages, but the effect of governmental certification on pay is much smaller. Licensing by multiple political jurisdictions is associated with the highest wage gains relative to only local licensing. Specific requirements by the government for a worker to enter an occupation, such as education level and long internships, are positively associated with wages. We find little association between licensing and the variance of wages, in contrast to unions. Overall, our results show that occupational licensing is an important labor market phenomenon that can be measured in labor force surveys.

Keywords: occupational licensing; labor survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D45 J21 J44 E20 C01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-lab
Date: 2009-05

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http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/549.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: Analyzing the Extent and Influence of Occupational Licensing on the Labor Market (2009)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:indrel:1165

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