occupational licensing

A new report from the National Employment Law Project looks at how state occupational licensing laws make it difficult for people with arrest and conviction records to find work in…

The Institute for Justice has released the second edition of its landmark “License to Work” (LTW) study. This report was authored by Dick M. Carpenter II, Lisa Knepper, Kyle Sweetland,…

There are many reasons to reform occupation licensing beyond its negative effects on employment. Several are described in my recent report on “Modernizing North Carolina’s Outdated Occupational Licensing Practices.”…

In North Carolina, occupational regulation tends to be an all-or-nothing thing. Either the state applies the most extreme form of regulation (licensing), or it mostly leaves the occupation alone. This…

John Hood wrote this week about the instructive philosophy of Cicero. Wait, don’t go yet. Cicero wasn’t just the “Roman orator and statesman … contemporary (and enemy) of Julius…

A transition away from licensure and into voluntary private certification would inject freedom and choice into the market for service professionals and into the labor market. It would pay dividends in terms of job creation particularly in low-income neighborhoods.

North Carolina features over 50 occupational licensing boards, more than most other states. In practice, it protects current members of a profession from competition, while increasing costs to consumers and would-be professionals blocked from the field. Economists studying occupational licensing generally find it restricts the supply of labor and drives up the price of labor and services. Without state licensure, private providers of reviews and certification, internet sites and consumer applications, social media, and competitors and market forces would ensure quality and safety. The government would still enforce safety and quality through the court system.

North Carolina recently filed a lawsuit going after private restraints of trade. But if the state really wants to reduce unfair trade practices and help consumers, it should eliminate or modify its own anti-competitive policies. The certificate of need law, occupational licensing, and other state-imposed restraints of trade hurt consumers and the economic freedom of North Carolinians.