He is a professor and the inaugural AFL-CIO chair in labor policy at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

[2] Kleiner has published extensively in the top academic journals in labor economics and industrial relations, and is the author, co-author, or co-editor of nine books.

: International Case Studies of Occupational Licensing and Its Effects on Efficiency and Quality was published by Upjohn Press.

Kleiner has published editorials for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and the Des Moines Register.

He has provided invited testimony and evidence to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee, many state legislatures, European Union, Bank of Italy, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank.