Beth Redbird on Licensing

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4.7 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2018

⏱️ 62 minutes

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Summary

Economists often oppose the expansion of licensing in America in recent years because it makes it harder for people with low skills to get access to opportunity. Sociologist Beth Redbird of Northwestern University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about a different perspective. Redbird finds that licensing expands opportunity for women and minorities and has little impact on wages. She argues that licensing helps historically disadvantaged groups discover ways into various careers they otherwise would have trouble accessing. The discussion closes with a discussion of Redbird's work on the economic situation of Native Americans.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty.
0:08.0	I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
0:12.6	Our website is econtalk.org where you can subscribe, comment on this podcast, and find
0:17.6	links and other information related to today's conversation.
0:20.5	We'll also find our archives where you can listen to every episode we've ever done going
0:24.8	back to 2006.
0:27.0	Our email address is mailadycontalk.org.
0:29.5	We'd love to hear from you.
0:31.5	Today is February 23rd, 2018, and my guest is sociologist Beth Redbird of Northwestern
0:39.3	University.
0:40.6	Her research focuses on the role of boundaries and restrictions, how they affect relationships
0:44.7	and economic outcomes.
0:45.7	We're going to focus today on her work on licensing and its effect on quality and wages.
0:51.0	Beth, welcome to Econ Talk.
0:52.7	Thank you, Russ.
0:54.7	You recently published a paper in the American Sociological Review on licensing with some striking
1:01.2	findings.
1:02.4	The first paragraph is a really nice introduction to a little bit of the history.
1:06.1	It says, over the past few decades, occupational closure and particularly licensure quietly
1:11.5	became the norm for a broad swath of US occupations.
1:15.5	We're only a small set of traditional professions once determined entry through regulation.
1:21.6	Today, the practice covers a much wider range of occupations from doctors to engineers,
	...

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