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Detecting discrimination in the hiring process: evidence from an Internet-based search channel

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  • Stefan Eriksson
  • Jonas Lagerström

Abstract

This article uses data from an Internet-based CV database to study how job searchers’ ethnicity, employment status, age, and gender affect how often they are contacted by firms. Since we know which types of information that are available to the recruiting firms, we can handle some of the problems with unobserved heterogeneity better than many existing discrimination studies. We find that searchers who have non-Nordic names, are unemployed or old get significantly fewer firm contacts. Moreover, this matters for the hiring outcome: searchers who get more contacts have a higher probability of getting hired. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Eriksson & Jonas Lagerström, 2012. "Detecting discrimination in the hiring process: evidence from an Internet-based search channel," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 537-563, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:43:y:2012:i:2:p:537-563
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-011-0496-6
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Eriksson & Jonas Lagerström, 2012. "The Labor Market Consequences of Gender Differences in Job Search," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 303-327, September.
    2. Waddell, Glen R. & Lee, Logan M., 2014. "The Timing of Preference and Prejudice in Sequential Hiring Games," IZA Discussion Papers 8445, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Stefan Eriksson & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2014. "Do Employers Use Unemployment as a Sorting Criterion When Hiring? Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(3), pages 1014-1039, March.
    4. Stefan Eriksson & Per Johansson & Sophie Langenskiöld, 2017. "What is the right profile for getting a job? A stated choice experiment of the recruitment process," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 803-826, September.
    5. Magnus Carlsson, 2010. "Experimental Evidence of Discrimination in the Hiring of First‐ and Second‐generation Immigrants," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(3), pages 263-278, September.
    6. Olof Åslund & Oskar Nordströum Skans, 2012. "Do Anonymous Job Application Procedures Level the Playing Field?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(1), pages 82-107, January.
    7. Postepska, Agnieszka & Vella, Francis, 2017. "Persistent Occupational Hierarchies among Immigrant Worker Groups in the United States Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 10514, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Nancy DiTomaso, 2021. "Why Difference Makes a Difference: Diversity, Inequality, and Institutionalization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2024-2051, December.
    9. Andersson, Henrik, 2018. "Ethnic Enclaves, Self-Employment and the Economic Performance of Refugees," Working Paper Series 2018:7, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    10. Adermon, Adrian & Hensvik, Lena, 2022. "Gig-jobs: Stepping stones or dead ends?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Lee, Logan M. & Waddell, Glen R., 2021. "Diversity and the timing of preference in hiring decisions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 432-459.
    12. Raviv Murciano-Goroff, 2022. "Missing Women in Tech: The Labor Market for Highly Skilled Software Engineers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3262-3281, May.
    13. Akiomi Kitagawa, 2013. "Long-run Consequences of Ranking Job Applicants by Unemployment Duration: Theoretical and Numerical Analyses," DSSR Discussion Papers 13, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    14. Bøg, Martin & Kranendonk, Erik, 2011. "Labor market discrimination of minorities? yes, but not in job offers," MPRA Paper 33332, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Carlsson, Magnus & Fumarco, Luca & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2018. "Does Labor Market Tightness Affect Ethnic Discrimination in Hiring?," IZA Discussion Papers 11285, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Job search; Unobserved heterogeneity; Discrimination; Ethnicity; Employment status; Age; J64; J71;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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