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Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination

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Author Info
Marianne Bertrand
Sendhil Mullainathan

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Abstract

We perform a field experiment to measure racial discrimination in the labor market. We respond with fictitious resumes to help-wanted ads in Boston and Chicago newspapers. To manipulate perception of race, each resume is randomly assigned either a very African American sounding name or a very White sounding name. The results show significant discrimination against African-American names: White names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews. We also find that race affects the benefits of a better resume. For White names, a higher quality resume elicits 30 percent more callbacks whereas for African Americans, it elicits a far smaller increase. Applicants living in better neighborhoods receive more callbacks but, interestingly, this effect does not differ by race. The amount of discrimination is uniform across occupations and industries. Federal contractors and employers who list “Equal Opportunity Employer” in their ad discriminate as much as other employers. We find little evidence that our results are driven by employers inferring something other than race, such as social class, from the names. These results suggest that racial discrimination is still a prominent feature of the labor market.

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Paper provided by The Field Experiments Website in its series Natural Field Experiments with number 0020.

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Date of creation: 2003
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Handle: RePEc:feb:natura:0020

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Joshua Angrist & Eric Bettinger & Eric Bloom & Michael Kremer, 2004. "Long-Term Consequences of Secondary School Vouchers: Evidence from Administrative Records in Colombia," Natural Field Experiments 0005, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Cornell, Bradford & Welch, Ivo, 1996. "Culture, Information, and Screening Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(3), pages 542-71, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Claudia Goldin & Cecilia Rouse, 2000. "Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 715-741, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Steven Raphael & Michael A. Stoll & Harry J. Holzer, 1998. "Are Suburban Firms More Likely to Discriminate Against African-Americans?," University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series 98-05, Department of Economics, UC San Diego. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Richard Startz & Lundberg, . "Private Discrimination and Social Intervention in Competitive Labor Markets," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 19-81, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
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  6. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-61, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Roland G. Fryer & Steven D. Levitt, 2003. "The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names," NBER Working Papers 9938, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Arrow, Kenneth J, 1998. "What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 91-100, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Neumark, David, 1996. "Sex Discrimination in Restaurant Hiring: An Audit Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 111(3), pages 915-41, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Doris Weichselbaumer, 2003. "Sexual orientation discrimination in hiring," Natural Field Experiments 0002, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Heckman, James J, 1998. "Detecting Discrimination," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 101-16, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Darity, William A, Jr & Mason, Patrick L, 1998. "Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 63-90, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Dennis J. Aigner & Glen G. Cain, 1977. "Statistical theories of discrimination in labor markets," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 30(2), pages 175-187, January.
  14. Holzer, Harry J, 1987. "Informal Job Search and Black Youth Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 446-52, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Riach, Peter A & Rich, Judith, 1991. "Testing for Racial Discrimination in the Labour Market," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 239-56, September.
  16. Altonji, Joseph G. & Blank, Rebecca M., 1999. "Race and gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 48, pages 3143-3259 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Jerry M. Newman, 1978. "Discrimination in recruitment: An empirical analysis," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 32(1), pages 15-23, October.
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