Doctors without borders? Relicensing requirements and negative selection in the market for physicians

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kugler, AD; Sauer, RM
• 署名单位: University of Houston System; University of Houston; Pompeu Fabra University; University of Southampton
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/430283
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 437-465
• 关键词: identification

摘要

Relicensing requirements for professionals who move across borders are widespread. In this article, we measure the effects of occupational licensing by exploiting an immigrant physician retraining assignment rule. Instrumental variables and quantile treatment effects estimates indicate large returns to acquiring an occupational license and negative selection into licensing status. We also develop a model of optimal license acquisition that, together with the empirical results, suggests that stricter relicensing requirements may lead not only to practitioner rents but also to lower average quality of service in the market for physicians.