A review of occupational regulation and its impact

The use of occupational licensing as a mechanism for increasing the demand for, and supply of, skills was considered – alongside other measures such as training levies – as part of the UK Commission‘s recent Review of Employer Collective Measures (Stanfield et al., 2009). However, that Review acknowledged that the general topic of occupational regulation remains severely under researched in the UK. It went on to recommend that a further, more detailed investigation of the issue should be carried out. This report presents the findings from that investigation. The overall aims of the research were to: · map the current pattern of occupational regulation in the UK; · review the theory regarding the operation and impact of occupational regulation; · examine the existing evidence on the impacts of occupational regulation in the UK and abroad; · provide initial estimates of the impact of occupational regulation on labour market outcomes such as skill levels, wages and employment in the UK.