Vor- und Nachteile des Meisterbriefs im Vergleich zu freiwilligen Qualifikationszertifikaten - Eine Analyse für das deutsche Handwerk

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Crafts products and services in the construction industry can be classified as credence goods. Typically, customers face difficulties in judging their quality even after purchase. Without proper regulation, this asymmetry in quality information may lead to failure in the market for high quality crafts products as well as to safety hazards. In this context, this study discusses whether the current mandatory licensing of qualifications in those crafts construction sectors that are listed in appendix A of the German Trade and Crafts Code (A-trades) may be supplemented by an alternative instrument, without sacrificing the functioning of the high quality segment of the crafts market as well as jeopardizing consumer safety. At the moment, operation managers in the A-trades must hold the qualification of a Master- Craftsman or an equivalent. Since customers can thus rely on a guaranteed minimum qualification as well as product quality, there is a lower likelihood of market failure due to asymmetrically distributed quality information. What is more, safety hazards become less likely. Nevertheless, mandatory qualification requirements exclude craftsmen from the market that are less qualified. Consequently, there is little labor supply in the lower price and quality segments, disadvantaging consumers that are satisfied with lower quality at a lower cost. Voluntary qualification certificates may divide the crafts market in high price/ high quality segments as well as in lower price segments. Yet, our analysis shows that this instrument may not rule out safety hazards. In the lower price segments craftsmen will have insufficient incentives to invest in their qualification. Consequently, there is a relatively higher likelihood of poor product quality that potentially endangers consumers. All in all, voluntary qualification requirements may only serve as an alternative to the current mandatory licensing of craft qualifications if consumer safety is not at risk. Yet, even in those sectors in which safety is not an issue, it will be necessary to carefully analyze the effects of deregulation on other policy goals such as the continued existence of the German apprenticeship system.