By Caleb Taylor Should you need a license to braid hair? That’s the question two St. Louis businesswomen are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider. UCA Associate Professor of Economics and ACRE Director Mitch Mitchell is a contributor, along with five other public choice scholars, on an amicus brief in the case of Ndioba […]
How Does Occupational Licensing Affect Recidivism?
By Caleb Taylor Licensing requirements may prevent ex-convicts from finding employment after leaving prison — and that may drive them back into crime. That’s what Stephen Slivinski, a senior research fellow at the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University, said to UCA students on March 27th. Slivinski is the author […]
More Licensing Doesn’t Always Mean More Safety
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas’ Red Tape Reduction Working Group heard on Monday night that the justification for some worker licenses is faulty. Dr. Derek Slagle, a Visiting Assistant Professor at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, gave members of the Working Group a broad overview of the state […]
Working Group “Important First Step” In Reforming Licensing
By Caleb Taylor How should Arkansas decrease barriers to jobs and entrepreneurship? Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the formation of the Red Tape Reduction Working Group on Feb. 16th to study state occupational requirements. Its next meeting is on Monday, April 23rd. In an op-ed published in Arkansas Business on March 26th, ACRE Director and UCA […]
Taxi Regulations Take Consumers for a Costly Ride
By Caleb Taylor Why do local governments make new taxi companies prove they won’t take profits away from their competition? Does this kind of regulation, requiring what’s called a “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity” (CPCN) serve the public or just current taxi businesses? That’s what former ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellow Colton Johnson and UCA […]
Where Does Arkansas Rank In Occupational Licensing?
Dr. Dick Carpenter spoke to UCA students at the College of Business Auditorium in Conway on November 16 about how Arkansas’s occupational licensing laws compared to the rest of the nation. Carpenter is a director of strategic research for the Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit public interest law firm. He is the co-author of […]
Dr. Snyder Discusses Occupational Licensing In Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Op-Ed
By Caleb Taylor ACRE Scholar and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Thomas Snyder discussed occupational licensing burdens in Arkansas and its surrounding states in an op-ed published on December 28 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In his op-ed, Snyder references a study released on November 13 entitled “License to Work: A National Study of Burdens […]
Occupational Licensing in Arkansas
By Alexandria Tatem A recent policy brief by the Mercatus Center highlighted Arkansas’s excessive occupational licensing policy. When the state government imposes licensing requirements on an occupation, it means a worker must get permission from the state before practicing that profession. The worker typically has to have a minimum level of education and experience, pass exams, […]
Understanding Why Firms Hire: Minimum Wage Debate
Highly profitable companies pay some of their workers only the minimum wage. Some politicians and activists, along with the President, want to raise this wage. Arguing that it is unfair for workers to make so little, the President wants to raise the minimum wage for all workers to $10.10. Unfortunately, the President doesn’t understand how […]
Stimulate Job Creation and Economic Development While Preserving Health and Safety Standards HB-1158
By Dr. David Mitchell Occupational licensing is an expensive legal requirement that must be met before people have the right to work. It includes education, experience, and testing, all of which is expensive. We say Arkansas is a right to work state, but it is not. Arkansas has more occupational licensing than any of its […]