Business regulation, labor force participation and employment in industrial countries

Using data from 19 industrial countries for 5 years in the period 1990–2002, this paper analyzes to what extent anticompetitive business regulations, like price controls and administrative obstacles to start a new business, affect labor force participation and employment rates. According to the regression results, they appear to lower both. Corruption, which is one result of strict business regulation, is also found to lower labor force participation and employment rates. While most effects on the general population seem to be modest, the effects on the low-skilled are likely to be substantial. The results are robust to variations in specification.