This paper proposes a novel approach to assessing the efficiency and distributional consequences of occupational licensing statutes during the Gilded and Progressive eras, based on the practice of judicial review. At the time, state judges ruling on the constitutionality of police powers regulation operated under powerful legal norms that militated against redistribution and class legislation. Evidence presented in the paper strongly suggests that judges were significantly more likely to uphold, on constitutional grounds, occupational licensing legislation for occupations with important information asymmetries, suggesting that constitutional review promoted efficiency in occupational markets. These findings have implications for current policies regarding occupational licensing.

本文基于司法审查的实践，提出了一种评估镀金时代和进步时代职业许可法规的效率和分配后果的新方法。当时，州法官对警察权力监管是否符合宪法的裁决是在强有力的法律规范下进行的，这些法律规范不利于再分配和阶级立法。该文件中提供的证据强烈表明，法官更有可能根据宪法，对存在严重信息不对称的职业维持职业许可立法，这表明宪法审查促进了职业市场的效率。这些发现对当前有关职业许可的政策具有影响。