Occupational licensing and minorities

The costs of occupational licensing fall disproportionately on minorities and the poor. Licensing seeks to eliminate the lower-quality, lower-price services that low-income consumers would be more likely to select. Perhaps more important, however, is the impact on workers who are denied entry into the occupation. Recent evidence confirms that licensing regulations esclude less-educated and minority workers more than proportionally. The consequences for these excluded workers include unemployment or lower earnings—either by moving to a less-favored occupation or practicing without a license. The outcomes ofnonprofessional trades regulated by licensing are similar to those predicted by segmented labor market theory. Those who fail to obtain the credential (license) are denied access to the trade even if they are no less productive.     

THE EVOLUTION OF FEDERAL CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT POLICY

This article traces the emergence of federal citizen involvement policy during the past 34 years which is described as emerging in an incremental and disjointed manner since World War II. The essay summarizes the major stages in this evolution, describes important principles associated with each stage, and identifies 24 elements that constitute an accrued federal citizen involvement policy.     

FIELD NETWORK RESEARCH IN POLICY EVALUATION

The field-network evaluation studies (FNES) approach to policy evaluation research seeks to overcome deficiencies of small-sample case study method and of the large-sample survey research approach. Methodologically, FNES uses many of the familiar techniques of both these approaches interviews, data collection and analysis, limited sampling, field observation, and document analysis. The crucial difference is sample size. The FNES approach using a middle-range sample of 50 to 60 research sites has the advantages of the case study method in being able to provide an in depth account of a program and how it operates, and is sufficiently flexible to permit a shift in the analytical framework as the research proceeds thus overcoming the inflexibility of the instruments of survey research.
Seven major studies employing the FNES approach have been carried out or are underway in the United States of America. The principal components of the methodology are a network of university-based field associates and a central management group. The field associates collect the information and the data using a uniform analytical framework and reporting form. The central staff aggregates these analyses into a single report that cuts across the sample. This approach and the use of a middle-range sample make it possible to draw generalizable conclusions based on the national experience, and also provide sufficient detail to differentiate policy impacts among the sample jurisdictions.