Life, limbs, and licensing: occupational regulation, wages, and workplace safety of electricians, 1992–2007

The analysis presented finds that local licensing of electricians is associated with approximately a 12-percent wage premium beyond that afforded by state regulations and that certain aspects of occupational requirements of state licensing, such as age and education, as well as exam requirements, raise the wages of electricians by about 6 percent to 8 percent. These results are robust for several alternative specifications. Further, the findings suggest a modest tradeoff between wages and work-related injuries. However, no systematic influence of occupational licensing on the injury rates, severity of injuries, or death rates of electricians was found.

Morris M. Kleiner and Kyoung Won Park

Monthly Labor Review

January 2014

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