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First Depressed, Then Discriminated Against?

Author

Listed:
  • Baert, Stijn

    (Ghent University)

  • De Visschere, Sarah

    (Ghent University)

  • Schoors, Koen

    (Ghent University)

  • Omey, Eddy

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

This study assesses hiring discrimination based on disclosed depression. We send out pairs of job applications from fictitious unemployed candidates to real vacancies in Belgium. Within each pair, one candidate cites depression as the reason for her/his unemployment, whereas the other candidate reveals no reason for unemployment. Overall, the hypothesis that applicants disclosing former depression are treated unfavourably is rejected. However, if we break up the data by the gender of the recruiter, we see that revealing former depression as a reason for unemployment is rewarded by female recruiters, whereas it affects the hiring decisions made by male recruiters in a non-positive way.

Suggested Citation

  • Baert, Stijn & De Visschere, Sarah & Schoors, Koen & Omey, Eddy, 2014. "First Depressed, Then Discriminated Against?," IZA Discussion Papers 8320, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8320
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. L'Horty, Yannick & Mahmoudi, Naomie & Petit, Pascale & Wolff, François-Charles, 2022. "Is disability more discriminatory in hiring than ethnicity, address or gender? Evidence from a multi-criteria correspondence experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    2. Philippe Sterkens & Stijn Baert & Claudia Rooman & Eva Derous, 2020. "As if it weren’t hard enough already: Breaking down hiring discrimination following burnout A causal machine learning evaluation of training in Belgium," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 20/1000, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    3. Bjørnshagen, Vegar, 2021. "The mark of mental health problems. A field experiment on hiring discrimination before and during COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    4. Sterkens, Philippe & Baert, Stijn & Rooman, Claudia & Derous, Eva, 2021. "As if it weren’t hard enough already: Breaking down hiring discrimination following burnout," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    5. Emmanuel Duguet & Rémi Le Gall & Yannick L’Horty & Pascale Petit, 2018. "How does labour market history influence the access to hiring interviews?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(4), pages 519-533, July.
    6. Adelina Sharipova & Stijn Baert, 2019. "Labour Market Outcomes for Cancer Survivors: A Review of the Reviews," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 19/985, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    7. Van Belle, Eva & Caers, Ralf & De Couck, Marijke & Di Stasio, Valentina & Baert, Stijn, 2017. "Why Is Unemployment Duration a Sorting Criterion in Hiring?," IZA Discussion Papers 10876, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Baert, Stijn, 2017. "Hiring Discrimination: An Overview of (Almost) All Correspondence Experiments Since 2005," IZA Discussion Papers 10738, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Namingit, Sheryll & Blankenau, William & Schwab, Benjamin, 2021. "Sick and tell: A field experiment analyzing the effects of an illness-related employment gap on the callback rate," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 865-882.
    10. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2022. "The link between smoking, drinking and wages: Health, workplace social capital or discrimination?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 160-183, March.
    11. Margaret Maurer-Fazio & Sili Wang, 2018. "Does marital status affect how firms interpret job applicants’ un/employment histories?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(4), pages 567-580, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economics of health; hiring discrimination; field experiments; depression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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