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# Settlement Laws

## Definition

Legal provisions that restrict the movement of poor persons by requiring them to obtain official settlement in a parish before residing there, creating significant barriers to labour mobility and preventing workers from moving to areas where their skills might be most valued.

## Source Chapter

Book I, Chapter 10

## Context

Smith presents settlement laws as a particularly harmful form of labour market regulation unique to England, which obstructs the free circulation of labour from place to place. He argues these laws prevent the natural adjustment of wages across regions and force workers to remain in parishes where their labour is less valuable.

## Economic Domain

Regulation

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