Occupational Licensing of Uber Drivers

Jonathan Hall, Jason Hicks, Morris M. Kleiner and Yun taek Oh

No 35635, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine whether occupational licensing improves service quality and safety using trip-level Uber data that include driver ratings and telematics-based measures of driving behavior. Exploiting quasi-random assignment from proximity-based dispatch, we compare trips served by licensed and unlicensed drivers in two settings: a cross-border comparison between New York City and New Jersey, and a deregulation event in Houston. Across settings and specifications, including instrumental variable estimates, we find no consistent evidence that licensing improves consumer outcomes. In Houston, post-deregulation entrants are indistinguishable from previously licensed drivers on ratings and driving behavior, despite differing markedly in experience and age.

JEL-codes: J0 J44 J48 J89 K29 L10 L8 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-edu, nep-lma and nep-tre
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