Would it surprise you to know that areas with more stringent electrician licensing actually have higher rates of electrocutions? It is true. Economists Sidney Carroll and Robert Gaston documented it in a very thorough study.1 While that finding may surprise you, the reasoning is fairly simply. Licensing increases costs. Higher costs lead to more do-it-yourself work, and that leads to more accidents. States with stricter dental licensing laws have a higher incidence of poor dental hygiene for the same basic reason.2 Similar, though perhaps less drastic, effects can be found in many other licensed occupations.
In occupational licensing, the government, usually in combination with a board or commission it establishes, sets standards and requirements as to who can practice a certain occupation. These standards can take the form of educational requirements, training hours, practice standards, continuing education classes, work documentation, background checks, etc. Licensure usually adds significant costs to becoming a member of the occupation, which is generally the whole point of it from the perspective of current practitioners who are grandfathered in when licensing is enacted.
Read the full House testimony (Feb 13, 2014):
Read the full Senate testimony (Feb 18, 2014):
