Research Reports
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…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
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…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
The Welfare Effects of Civil Forfeiture
Using a laboratory experiment we explore competing claims on the welfare effects of civil forfeiture. Experiment participants are tasked with making trade-offs in allocating resources “to fight crime” with and without the ability to seize…
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 | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Vending
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 | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Vending
Bottleneckers: Gaming the Government for Power and Private Profit
The Left, Right and Center all hate them: powerful special interests who use government power for their own private benefit. In an era when the Left hates “fat cats” and the Right despises “crony capitalists,” now there…
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…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
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…
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
Policing for Profit, 2nd Edition Published in 2015, this is an older edition of IJ’s landmark Policing for Profit report. You can download the report here, but please see the fourth and current edition for the most up-to-date…
Economic Liberty | Vending
Upwardly Mobile
Executive Summary 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 coast to coast. Despite vending’s popularity…
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…
Educational Choice
Who Chooses and Why in a Universal Choice Scholarship Program: Evidence From Douglas County, Colorado
This article studies parental decision making in a unique school choice program—a universal voucher system in a middle- and upper-income suburban/rural school district. A survey of parents found that applicants and nonapplicants looked similar across…
First Amendment | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Occupational Speech and the First Amendment
In May 2013, newspaper columnist John Rosemond received a cease-and-desist letter from the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology informing him that his syndicated column — in which he answers readers’ questions about parenting —…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Boards Behaving Badly
In a nutshell, states should: Charge an independent “licensing ombudsman” with reviewing the actions of state licensing boards; Charge the licensing ombudsman with a mandate to promote economic competition; Make the ombudsman responsible for conducting…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Regulating work: Measuring the burden and scope of occupational licensure among low- and moderate-income occupations in the United States
This study examines the scope and burden of occupational licensing laws in the United States for 102 low- and moderate-income occupations. Findings indicate that the licences studied require of aspiring workers, on average, $US209 in…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Seize First, Question Later
Thanks to federal civil forfeiture laws, the Internal Revenue Service has seized millions of dollars from thousands of Americans’ bank accounts without proof of criminal wrongdoing.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
When legal is not ethical
Civil forfeiture laws in the United States facilitate, indeed encourage, unethical behavior on the part of law enforcement officials. Civil forfeiture is a mechanism by which law enforcement agencies can seize property merely with a…
Against Arbitrary Government And The Amoral Constitution
The most important debate in constitutional law today is within the conservative-libertarian movement over the proper role of courts in mediating personal freedom and government power. At one end of the spectrum are those who…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Bad Apples or Bad Laws?
An original experiment finds that civil forfeiture laws create a strong temptation for law enforcement to seize property to pad their own budgets.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing | Transportation | Vending
Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide
You have the right to earn an honest living. This is called “economic liberty” and it is protected by the U.S. Constitution. But often, entrepreneurs face burdensome, arbitrary and anti-competitive laws that make it difficult,…