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Uncovering sophisticated discrimination with the help of credence goods markups - evidence from a natural field experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Hall
  • Rudolf Kerschbamer
  • Daniel Neururer
  • Eric Skoog

Abstract

We present the results of a pre-registered natural field experiment designed to uncover a sophisticated form of discrimination against an immigrant minority in a market for credence goods. For this purpose, we introduce two markups: (i) the credence goods markup defined as the difference between the price paid by the same person for an ordinary service and an otherwise equivalent credence goods service; and (ii) the discriminatory markup defined as the difference between the price paid by a member of an immigrant minority group and the price paid by a member of the majority group for the same kind of service. We document the existence of a large credence goods markup of about 40%, on average. Moreover, we find a sizeable discriminatory markup for the credence goods service but no discriminatory markup for the ordinary service. The results of an ex-post survey suggest that this sophisticated form of discrimination is mainly due to the prejudicial behavior of sellers belonging to an established local ethnic minority group towards buyers belonging to a low-status immigrant ethnic minority group.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Hall & Rudolf Kerschbamer & Daniel Neururer & Eric Skoog, 2019. "Uncovering sophisticated discrimination with the help of credence goods markups - evidence from a natural field experiment," Working Papers 2019-11, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    • Handle: RePEc:inn:wpaper:2019-11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Parampreet Christopher Bindra & Graeme Pearce, 2022. "The effect of priming on fraud: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(4), pages 1854-1874, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    patience; time preferences; group decisions; payoff heterogeneity; experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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