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Relaxing Occupational Licensing In Italy: A Staggered Difference In Differences Analysis Using Balance-Sheet Data Of Italian Pharmacies

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Rose

    (Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance 'Giovanni Anania', University of Calabria, Rende (Italy))

  • Francesco Mazzulla

    (Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance 'Giovanni Anania', University of Calabria, Rende (Italy))

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of a policy implemented in Italy in 2012, deregulating the market of pharmacies, in order to reduce barriers to entry and improve competition. Drawing municipal-level data from Aida for the following years 2011-2019, we assess the impact of the reform on revenues and net profits of pharmacies located in municipalities where there have been new openings. In order to properly examine the policy that adopts a staggered implementation we propose an evaluation method that include three different estimation steps, using some recently developed methods to deal with staggered adoption, and an event study to compare our final results. Our findings show that relaxing occupational licensing decreased both revenues and net profits for treated pharmacies across all different specifications of the dependent variables.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Rose & Francesco Mazzulla, 2023. "Relaxing Occupational Licensing In Italy: A Staggered Difference In Differences Analysis Using Balance-Sheet Data Of Italian Pharmacies," Working Papers 202302, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    • Handle: RePEc:clb:wpaper:202302
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    File URL: http://www.ecostat.unical.it/RePEc/WorkingPapers/WP02_2023.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    occupational licensing; deregulation; staggered difference-in-differences; event-study; csdid; did_imputation; generalized difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • L43 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
    • D45 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Rationing; Licensing

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