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An empirical study of age discrimination in Norway and Germany

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  • Victoria Busch
  • Svenn-Åge Dahl
  • Dennis Dittrich

Abstract

Using a questionnaire and a sample of students and personnel managers we establish the existence of age discrimination in the hiring process in Germany and Norway. As expected, age discrimination is more prominent in Germany where the hiring probability of equally qualified applicants is reduced by about 22 percentage points due to an age differential of 14 years as opposed to only 12 percentage points in Norway. Within both countries the tendency to discriminate does not differ between students and personnel managers and does not depend on the age of the decision maker. 'The phenomenon of unemployment among older workers […] is characterized less by the risk of becoming unemployed than by the problem of remaining unemployed and failing to find new work.' Frerichs and Naegele (1998, p. 59)

Suggested Citation

  • Victoria Busch & Svenn-Åge Dahl & Dennis Dittrich, 2009. "An empirical study of age discrimination in Norway and Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 633-651.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:41:y:2009:i:5:p:633-651
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840601007344
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark, 2007. "Production Function and Wage Equation Estimation with Heterogeneous Labor: Evidence from a New Matched Employer-Employee Data Set," NBER Chapters, in: Hard-to-Measure Goods and Services: Essays in Honor of Zvi Griliches, pages 31-71, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Susanne Büchner & Dennis A. V. Dittrich, 2002. "I will survive! -- Gender discrimination in a household saving decisions experiment," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2002-14, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group.
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    Cited by:

    1. Micaela M. Kulesz & Dennis A. V. Dittrich, 2014. "It's not you, it's me: an experimental study of employers' wage setting behavior," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(4), pages 2128-2137.
    2. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde & Irene van Staveren, 2018. "Does Age Exacerbate the Gender-Wage Gap? New Method and Evidence From Germany, 1984–2014," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 108-130, October.
    3. Dittrich, Dennis A.V. & Büchner, Susanne & Kulesz, Micaela M., 2015. "Dynamic repeated random dictatorship and gender discrimination," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 81-90.
    4. Chmura, Thorsten & Goerg, Sebastian J. & Weiss, Pia, 2016. "Natural groups and economic characteristics as driving forces of wage discrimination," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 178-200.
    5. Van Borm, Hannah & Burn, Ian & Baert, Stijn, 2021. "What Does a Job Candidate's Age Signal to Employers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Christian Dudel & Elke Loichinger & Sebastian Klüsener & Harun Sulak & Mikko Myrskylä, 2021. "The extension of late working life in Germany: trends, inequalities, and the East-West divide," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    7. John Moriarty & Patricia Gillen & John Mallett & Jill Manthorpe & Heike Schröder & Paula McFadden, 2020. "Seeing the Finish Line? Retirement Perceptions and Wellbeing among Social Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-13, June.
    8. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 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, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(4), pages 349-366, December.
    9. Aurelian SOFICĂ, 2012. "The social network of actors influencing age discrimination in the human resources recruiting process," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 3, pages 169-188, June.
    10. Schnabel Claus & List Juliane, 2025. "Altersdiskriminierung trotz Arbeitskräftemangel?," Wirtschaftsdienst, Sciendo, vol. 105(6), pages 444-448.

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