Occupational Licensing and Labor Market Mobility: Evidence from the Legal Profession
We study how state occupational licensing requirements shape the mobility of lawyers across U.S. legal markets.
To do so, we compile novel datasets of state bar exam waiver policies, the histories of lawyers’ license acquisitions, and the professional disciplinary actions taken against these lawyers.
We find that a bar exam waiver increases the number of experienced lawyers obtaining a license in the state by 38 percent. We also find that bar exam waivers decrease lawyer quality: compared to lawyers who obtain an additional license without a bar exam waiver, lawyers induced by a bar exam waiver to obtain an additional license are more likely to be subject to professional discipline and tend to have earned law degrees from less selective schools.
Our results suggest that stricter state-level occupational licensing requirements act as a barrier to lawyers’ labor market mobility but also improve the quality of lawyers in the state.
About the Law and Economics Workshop
Michigan’s Law and Economics Workshop provides an opportunity for faculty and students from across the University to engage with cutting-edge law and economics research by leading scholars on a wide range of legal and policy topics.
Professors Adam Pritchard ([email protected]) and Gabriel Rauterberg ([email protected]) organize the workshop. If you would like to receive workshop announcements, please contact Alex Wroble ([email protected]) and ask to have your name added to the workshop’s email list.
