The Wage Effects of Municipal Ordinances: An Application to the Wages of Exotic Dancers
Abstract:
In California v. Larue the Supreme Court found exotic dancing to be a form of expressive speech protected by the First Amendment, yet many local municipalities have tried to severely restrict or eliminate it through the passage of municipal ordinances. Some of the typical ordinances include eliminating the ability to serve alcohol, limiting hours of operation, or regulating the physical distance between dancer and customer. Since exotic dancers are in the business of selling intimacy – albeit counterfeit - these ordinances will likely affect the dancer’s wages (Boles and Garbin, 1974; Enck and Preston, 1988; Frank, 1998). While some “feature” dancers may earn six figure incomes many dancers do not. Most dancers are hired as independent contractors without benefits and they rely on dancing as their primary source of income (Sanchez, 2005). A sudden loss of wages can force them to look for other means of support outside the industry which is often difficult due to the social stigma of having been an exotic dancer (Thompson and Harred, 1992; and Thompson, Harred, and Burks, 2003). This project will attempt to measure the employment and wage effects of municipal restrictions on exotic dancers. In addition we hope our research can more accurately and objectively estimate the economic impact of the industry.