Occupational Licensing, Antitrust, and Innovation

Every state has laws or regulations that require individuals seeking to offer a certain service to the public first to obtain approval from the state before they may operate in the state. Recent years have seen a significant proliferation of such laws, with less than 5% of jobs in the American economy requiring a license in the 1950’s to between 25-30% today. Although licensing in some occupations may benefit the public by reducing information asymmetry and/or ensuring a minimum quality level for a particular service, the significant growth in the number of occupations governed by some form of licensing requirements poses a potential threat to competition and consumer welfare. Our panel of experts will discuss these important issues.

Moderators:

• Koren W. Wong-Ervin, Director, Global Antitrust Institute, Scalia Law School at George Mason University
• Lisa Kimmel, Senior Counsel, Crowell & Moring LLP

Speakers:

• The Honorable Maureen Ohlhausen, Acting Chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
• James Cooper, Associate Professor, Scalia Law School at George Mason University
• Sarah Oxenham Allen, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia

* This event will be both live and available via teleconference. Lunch will be served to those in attendance.

Event begins at 12:00 PM (Eastern). 

This event is open to all, however, space is limited and therefore we will be cutting off registration once we have reached capacity.

If you intend to call-in, there is no need to RSVP. You may use the instructions below: 

Step 1: Dial 877-211-3621

Step 2: Dial Passcode 202-508-8842#

Wait to enter the forum. Please note that this line will not be accessible before 11:45 AM.