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Hiring discrimination: a field experiment in the French financial sector

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  • Pascale Petit

    (EUREQua)

Abstract

Using correspondence testing, we investigate whether gender access gap in job interviews is due to different effects of present or future family responsibilities on expected productivity of male and female job applicants or if it is due to a taste for discrimination. We have sent job applications of three pairs of candidates to the same job advertisements in the French financial sector. Using three pairs of applicants, we compare the effect on the gender access gap to job interviews of a high probability of maternity/paternity (1); high family responsibilities (2); neither risk of maternity or family responsibility (3). Within each pair, the applicants' characteristics are similar except for their gender. We find significant discrimination against women with a high probability of maternity for highly qualified administrative jobs. In the other cases, unequal treatment between genders is not significant. So, controlling for female probability of maternity, we find no significant unequal treatment between genders. We conclude that female employment suffers more from their probability of maternity (and their anticipated career interruptions) than family responsibilities alone. So, statistical discrimination due to female probability of maternity exists on the French labour market. An appropriate economic policy may correct it by reducing firms' cost due to maternity leave

Suggested Citation

  • Pascale Petit, 2004. "Hiring discrimination: a field experiment in the French financial sector," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques v04086, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    • Handle: RePEc:mse:wpsorb:v04086
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Eriksson & Jonas Lagerström, 2006. "Competition between Employed and Unemployed Job Applicants: Swedish Evidence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 108(3), pages 373-396, October.
    2. Stijn Baert & Bart Cockx & Niels Gheyle & Cora Vandamme, 2013. "Do Employers Discriminate Less if Vacancies are Difficult to Fill? Evidence from a Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 4093, CESifo.
    3. Pascale Petit, 2004. "Effet des syndicats sur les inégalités entre les femmes et les hommes : une revue de la littérature," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques v04076, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    4. Maria De Paola & Michela Ponzo & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2018. "Are Men Given Priority for Top Jobs? Investigating the Glass Ceiling in Italian Academia," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(3), pages 475-503.
    5. Kübler, Dorothea & Schmid, Julia & Stüber, Robert, 2017. "Be a man or become a nurse: Comparing gender discrimination by employers across a wide variety of professions," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2017-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    6. Mavlikeeva, Maria & Asanov, Igor, 2020. "Can Group Identity Explain Gender Gap in Recruitment Process?," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224647, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Laura Gee, 2014. "The More you Know: Information Effects in Job Application Rates by Gender in a Large Field Experiment," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0780, Department of Economics, Tufts University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Field experiment; hiring discrimination;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition

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