Morris Kleiner

About

Morris M. Kleiner is a professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research and policy focus is the role of institutions in labor markets and employment issues in enhancing productivity. His specific research agenda has been focused on the role of occupational licensing for workers and consumers in the United States and other nations.

Kleiner’s research has been funded by numerous nonprofit foundations, the US federal government, and international organizations to develop new data on occupational licensing statutes and regulations over time and across nations. The results of the research have been published in top-tier professional and academic journals. The policy-oriented research has been covered in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and elsewhere. He has been a guest on many podcasts and radio and television interview programs. He has testified before US Senate and House committees on occupational regulation policy based on his research. In addition, his work has influenced federal executive branch policy on occupational regulation as well as state policies on occupational licensing. He has provided briefs to the US Supreme Court on occupational licensing cases and has advised the World Health Organization, European Union, and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Kleiner was selected as one of the Michael A. and Anita Paleologos Yagjian Visiting Fellows at the Hoover Institution for 2025. He is currently serving as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and is working with the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University to develop and enhance new statutory and regulation data on occupational licensing. In 2018 he was selected as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Labor and Employment Relations Association for outstanding contributions to the field of industrial relations and human resources, and in 2024 he received the Economics Career Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Illinois Department of Economics.