New NBER paper: Influence of Occupational Licensing on Workforce Transitions to Retirement
Morris M. Kleiner with the University of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs shares a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, "The Influence of Occupational Licensing on Workforce Transitions to Retirement." From the abstract: "In this study, we use the Current Population Survey
and Survey of Income and Program Participation to investigate how occupational licensing
influences American later-career workers’ choice of retirement pathways. Our results show that
licensed workers are less likely to choose to change careers but more likely to reduce work hours
in transitioning out of the workforce. These results are consistent with the findings that licensed
workers receive more benefits in the form of preferable retirement options, suggesting that these
workers tend to have higher wages, benefits, and flexibility even toward the end of their careers."