Research Reports
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
The relationship between cottage food laws and business outcomes
The increasing popularity of cottage foods in the United States requires that state laws regulating the industry be given careful consideration. However, little is known about cottage food producers or their businesses. This article discusses…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Civil Forfeiture Hurts America’s Poor
In 2014, Tyson Timbs sold $400 worth of drugs to undercover police in an effort to support his addiction. Tyson, a first-time offender, was sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years of…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Forfeiture in Arizona
In 2017, Arizona adopted incremental but important bipartisan reforms of the state’s civil forfeiture system. These reforms included new transparency requirements for forfeiture, obliging agencies to report the value, type and date of a property…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Civil Forfeiture, Crime Fighting and Safeguards for the Innocent
In 2017, the Department of Justice revived a controversial federal forfeiture program the previous administration had sharply curtailed. In defense of these “adoptive forfeitures” or “adoptions,” as well as of civil forfeiture in general, the…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Ready to Roll
Most states have “cottage food laws,” which regulate the sale of homemade foods. The specifics vary from state to state, but most such laws restrict the types of homemade foods that may be sold. Research…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
At What Cost
Not only do state occupational licensing laws force people to spend a lot of time and money earning a license instead of earning a living, they also impose real economic costs. This study takes advantage…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
The Continuing Burden of Occupational Licensing in the United States
This study follows up an earlier study in which we examined the scope and burden of 102 occupational licensing laws in the United States for low‐ and moderate‐income occupations. Using data collected in 2017, findings…
Economic Liberty | Transportation
Regulatory Overdrive
Traditional taxis are highly regulated in most American cities, with local regulators determining everything from how many taxis can be licensed to the types of services they can provide to the fares they can charge…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
You’ll Need a License for That Job
In 2013, Heather Kokesch Del Castillo found herself in an unfulfilling career and began to question whether she was following her true passion. At the same time, she was growing increasingly dissatisfied with her physical…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Expropriation in Puerto Rico
In a new report (released August 6), the Institute for Justice (IJ) gives Puerto Rico’s eminent domain laws a grade of “F.” IJ is a nonprofit, civil liberties law firm dedicated to ending eminent domain…
Economic Liberty | Vending
Street Vending in the United States: A Unique Dataset from a Survey of Street Vendors in America’s Largest Cities
The data described in this article come from an original survey of street vendors in the 50 largest cities in the United States. One of the most persistent, although little understood, features of the urban…
Economic Liberty | Vending
A Golden Opportunity for the Golden State
California’s sidewalk vendors face a patchwork of arbitrary and anticompetitive rules that make it difficult—or even impossible—to ply their chosen trade and share in the prosperity of the United States’ largest economy. Now the California…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
The Questionable Ethics of Civil Forfeiture
On a cool, sunny November day, Mark Brewer – a disabled decorated U.S. Air Force veteran – was driving through the state of Nebraska on his way to Los Angles to visit his uncle. While…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Flour Power
All across the country, thousands of Americans are making food at home to sell in their communities. Together, they form the small but growing “cottage food” industry. With renewed interest in this age-old industry, laws…
Economic Liberty | Private Property
Finding the American Dream at Home
Across the country, millions of enterprising people are running businesses out of their homes. This report outlines the myriad benefits of home-based businesses and suggests that government regulations curtailing them are short-sighted. It details how…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
The Inverted Pyramid
When it comes to occupational regulation, policymakers may see their options as action or inaction: licensing or no licensing. In fact, policymakers can choose from a plethora of alternatives that provide the purported benefits of…
License to Work 2
License to Work, 2nd Edition Published in 2017, this is an older edition of IJ’s landmark License to Work report. You can download the report and read about data improvements we made between the first…
Educational Choice
Federal Special Education Law and State School Choice Programs
In this article, Nat Malkus and Tim Keller outline the federal laws that protect students with disabilities, give an overview of school choice programs, and explain how participating in school choice programs affects the rights…
Educational Choice
12 Myths and Realities about Private Educational Choice Programs
Educational choice programs—defined broadly as programs that provide parents financial aid to opt their children out of the traditional public school system—have been a topic of significant public discussion and debate in recent months. Despite…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Bottleneckers: The Origins of Occupational Licensing and What Can Be Done About Its Excesses
At this moment, a campaign is being waged in America’s state capitals. Its purpose? To protect the public from the menace of unregulated music therapists. A music therapist “directs and participates in instrumental and vocal…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Forfeiture Transparency & Accountability
Every year, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies across the United States seize and keep billions of dollars in cash, cars, homes and other property using a legal tool called forfeiture. Criminal forfeiture requires…
Economic Liberty
Opportunity Lost
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says his “administration is committed to creating the conditions and opportunities that will allow this industry [food trucks] to thrive, create jobs and support a vibrant food culture across…
Enforcing the Constitution
The Constitution was written to limit government power, but those limits are meaningless unless judges restrain public officials when they overstep their bounds. Judicial engagement is a cutting-edge approach to judicial review that…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing
Putting Licensing to the Test
More Americans than ever need a license to work. But what do occupational licenses actually accomplish? This case study of one such license adds to a growing body of research that suggests this red tape…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Occupations: A Hierarchy of Regulatory Options
Momentum is growing in favor of reining in excessive occupational licensing. However, policymaking in this arena is too often plagued by assumptions that the only regulatory options are no licensing or full licensing. Such binary…
Economic Liberty
Open for Business
Throughout the nation, cities and counties are looking for ways to promote economic liberty and improve the well-being of their residents But all too often this desire to improve economic conditions manifests itself in expensive…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Barriers to Braiding
African-style hair braiding is a time-tested and natural craft. Yet most states force braiders to get a government license and take hundreds or even thousands of hours of classes to work legally. This study finds…
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
On Common Constitutional Ground
Launched in 2008, Georgia’s scholarship tax credit program will help over 13,000 children get the best education for their needs at secular and religious private schools this year. But in 2014 school choice opponents sued…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Policing for Profit: Second Edition
Civil forfeiture laws pose some of the greatest threats to property rights in the nation today, too often making it easy and lucrative for law enforcement to take and keep property—regardless of the owner’s guilt…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Vending
Upwardly Mobile
As old as the country itself, American street vending has never been more prominent. It’s the subject of television shows, think pieces and—less happily—burdensome regulations in cities nationwide. Yet hard data about vendors and their…