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Endogenous age discrimination

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  • Christian Manger

Abstract

This paper shows that hiring discrimination against old workers occurs in imperfect labour markets even if individual productivity does not decrease with age and in the absence of a taste for discrimination. Search and informational frictions generate unemployment, with less productive workers facing higher risks of unemployment. Therefore, the employment status provides a signal for expected productivity. This stigma of unemployment becomes stronger with individual age and reduces the hiring opportunities of older workers. Political measures such as a reduction in dismissal protection can help to restore efficiency. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Manger, 2014. "Endogenous age discrimination," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 1087-1106, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:27:y:2014:i:4:p:1087-1106
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-013-0467-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Barry T. Hirsch & David A. Macpherson & Melissa A. Hardy, 2000. "Occupational Age Structure and Access for Older Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 401-418, April.
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    3. John Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn & Georgi Tsertsvardze, 2010. "Hiring older workers and employing older workers: German evidence," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 595-615, March.
    4. Vegard Skirbekk, 2004. "Age and Individual Productivity: A Literature Survey," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 2(1), pages 133-154.
    5. Kevin Lang & Michael Manove & William T. Dickens, 2005. "Racial Discrimination in Labor Markets with Posted Wage Offers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1327-1340, September.
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    7. John S. Heywood & Lok-Sang Ho & Xiangdong Wei, 1999. "The Determinants of Hiring Older Workers: Evidence from Hong Kong," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(3), pages 444-459, April.
    8. William Blankenau & Gabriele Camera, 2006. "A Simple Economic Theory of Skill Accumulation and Schooling Decisions," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 9(1), pages 93-115, January.
    9. Adriana D. Kugler & Gilles Saint-Paul, 2004. "How Do Firing Costs Affect Worker Flows in a World with Adverse Selection?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(3), pages 553-584, July.
    10. Ben Lockwood, 1991. "Information Externalities in the Labour Market and the Duration of Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(4), pages 733-753.
    11. Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, 2008. "Nonemployment stigma as rational herding: A field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 30-40, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2018. "The retirement age and the hiring of senior workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 247-270.
    2. Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2016. "The hiring and employment of older workers in Germany : a comparative perspective (Die Beschäftigung und Neueinstellung älterer Arbeitnehmer in Deutschland : eine vergleichende Perspektive)," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 49(4), pages 349-366.
    3. Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2016. "The hiring and employment of older workers in Germany : a comparative perspective (Die Beschäftigung und Neueinstellung älterer Arbeitnehmer in Deutschland : eine vergleichende Perspektive)," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 49(4), pages 349-366.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Search frictions; Age discrimination; Unemployment; J14; J41; J71;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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