TY - JOUR AU - Kleiner,Morris M. AU - Kudrle,Robert T. TI - Do Tougher Licensing Provisions Limit Occupational Entry? The Case of Dentistry JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 3984 PY - 1992 Y2 - February 1992 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3984 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3984.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Morris M. Kleiner University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs 260 Humphrey Center 301 19th Street South Minneapolis, MN 55455 Tel: 612/625-2089 Fax: 612/625-6351 E-Mail: kleiner@umn.edu AB - The effect of licensing as a mechanism to control entry into occupations has been a neglected area of both regulation and labor market research. This study examines the role of occupational licensing for entry into dentistry, an occupation with standards that vary by state. Our research first closely replicates Freeman's previous work on labor market cobwebs by employing national data to examine purely market phenomena in the determination of training for the dental profession. We subsequently approximate the government barrier to practice in the profession by adding a weighted average state examination pass rate to the previous model. Next, we employ pooled cross-section time series analysis to explore market determinants of professional entry with state level data. Finally, these results are supplemented by measures of statutory and pass rate entry restrictiveness. Our most consistent evidence suggests that a higher state licensing failure rate deters entry into dental practice. ER -