How Occupational Licensing Hinders Low-Income Entrepreneurship
Occupational Licensing Is a Scam – Foundation for Economic Education
Through occupational licensing, politicians get to impose “fees” in exchange for letting people practice their professions. And interest groups get to impose barriers that limit competition, a win-win situation, unless you are taxpayer or a consumer. Or a poor person who wants to get a job. “In the 1950s only about 1 in 20 American workers needed a license, but now roughly 1 in 4 do. This puts a real burden on the economy. A 2012 study by the Institute for Justice examined 102 low-income and middle-income occupations. The average license cost $209 and required nine months of training and one state exam. …Even the Obama administration saw the problem. A 2015 report from the White House said that licensing can ‘reduce employment opportunities and lower wages for excluded workers.’ In 2011 three academic economists estimated that these barriers have result in 2.85 million fewer jobs nationwide, while costing consumers $203 billion a year thanks to decreased competition.”
https://fee.org/articles/occupational-licensing-is-a-scam/
How State Occupational Licensing Hinders Low-Income Entrepreneurship
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/en/work/topics/free-enterprise/entrepreneurship/bootstraps-tangled-in-red-tape/
PDF Report: https://news.gcase.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/goldwater-report-entrepreneurs-licensing-2015.pdf
Kauffman Foundation Policy Director Warns State How Licensing Laws Fence Out New Businesses
http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/2016/02/kauffman-foundation-policy-director-warns-state-how-licensing-laws-fence-out-new-businesses
Occupational Licensing: A Barrier to Entrepreneurship
http://www.kauffman.org/what-we-do/resources/entrepreneurship-policy-digest/occupational-licensing-a-barrier-to-entrepreneurship