This document presents an analysis of the prevailing wage laws' impact on public school construction costs in Maryland. The document also provides a comparison of school construction costs of Mid-Atlantic states with prevailing wage laws as well as comparisons between Maryland jurisdictions with and without these laws. The discussion examines the extent to which local contractors have been harmed by unfair competition from outside contractors in the absence of prevailing wage requirements. Moreover, the document explores the extent to which the absence of prevailing wage rates in school construction impacts wages across the construction industry. Results show that there is no measurable or statistically significant increase in construction costs associated with prevailing wage regulations in the Mid-Atlantic States, nor do these regulations measurably affect school construction costs between jurisdictions with and without these laws in Maryland. Further, prevailing wage regulations appear to restrict the ability of urban contractors to win rural construction contracts. Yet, conversely, these regulations appear to encourage the award of urban jobs to rural contractors. Analysis shows construction workers earn a premium in prevailing wage jurisdictions over other nonagricultural workers. This premium ranges from 7 to 16 percent. (Contains 15 tables.) (GR)