Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35147 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3675
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This study provides the first nation-wide analysis of the labor market implications of occupational licensing for the U.S. labor market, using data from a specially designed Gallup survey. We find that in 2006, 29 percent of the workforce was required to hold an occupational license from a government agency, which is a higher percentage than that found in studies that rely on state-level occupational licensing data. Workers who have higher levels of education are more likely to work in jobs that require a license. Union workers and government employees are more likely to have a license requirement than are nonunion or private sector employees. Our multivariate estimates suggest that licensing has about the same quantitative impact on wages as do unions - that is about 15 percent, but unlike unions which reduce variance in wages, licensing does not significantly reduce wage dispersion for individuals in licensed jobs.
Subjects: 
Occupational licensing
regulation
wages
JEL: 
J8
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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