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Barriers to prosperity: the harmful impact of entry regulations on income inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Dustin Chambers

    (Salisbury University)

  • Patrick A. McLaughlin

    (Mercatus Center at George Mason University)

  • Laura Stanley

    (Mercatus Center at George Mason University)

Abstract

Entry regulations, including fees, permits and licenses, can make it prohibitively difficult for low-income individuals to establish footholds in many industries, even at the entry-level. As such, these regulations increase income inequality by either preventing access to higher paying professions or imposing costs on individuals choosing to enter illegally and provide unlicensed services. To estimate this relationship empirically, we combine entry regulations data from the World Bank’s Doing Business Index with various measures of income inequality, including Gini coefficients and income shares to form a panel of 115 countries. We find that countries with more stringent entry regulations tend to experience more income inequality. In countries with average inequality, increasing the number of procedures required to start a new business by one standard deviation is associated with a 7.2% increase in the share of income accruing to the top decile of earners, and a 12.9% increase in the overall Gini coefficient. This result is robust to the measure of inequality, startup regulations, and potential endogeneity. We conclude by offering several policy recommendations designed to minimize the adverse effects of entry regulations.

Suggested Citation

  • Dustin Chambers & Patrick A. McLaughlin & Laura Stanley, 2019. "Barriers to prosperity: the harmful impact of entry regulations on income inequality," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 165-190, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:180:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11127-018-0498-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-018-0498-4
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    2. Thomas Ziesemer, 2022. "Global Dynamics of Gini Coefficients of Education for 146 Countries: Update to 1950-2015 and a Compact Guide to the Literature," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 85-95.
    3. Choudhury, Sanchari, 2023. "The causal effect of regulation on income inequality across the U.S. states," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Chambers, Dustin & O'Reilly, Colin, 2022. "Regulation and income inequality in the United States," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Felipe, Israel José dos Santos & Mendes-Da-Silva, Wesley & Leal, Cristiana Cerqueira & Braun Santos, Danilo, 2022. "Reward crowdfunding campaigns: Time-to-success analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 214-228.
    6. Dallin Overstreet, 2020. "The negative impact of barriers to entry on income inequality," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 344-357, October.
    7. Ogede Jimoh S., 2020. "Deconstructing the Impact of Entrepreneurship on Income Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa Countries," Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 34(1), pages 273-284, February.
    8. Dustin Chambers & Colin O’Reilly, 2022. "The economic theory of regulation and inequality," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 193(1), pages 63-78, October.
    9. Nicholas Reinarts & Vitor Melo, 2023. "ADA to Ph.D.? The Americans with disabilities act and post-secondary educational attainment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(3), pages 421-432, December.
    10. Strobl, Martin & Sáenz de Viteri, Andrea & Rode, Martin & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2023. "Populism and inequality: Does reality match the populist rhetoric?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 1-17.
    11. Chambers, Dustin & O'Reilly, Colin, 2019. "Entry Regulations and Income Inequality at the Regional Level," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 49(1), April.
    12. Kärnä, Anders & Karlsson, Johan & Engberg, Erik & Svensson, Peter, 2020. "Political Failure: A Missing Piece in Innovation Policy Analysis," Working Paper Series 1334, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 21 Apr 2022.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Regulation; Entry regulations; Doing business; Gini coefficient;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • K20 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - General

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