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The impact of criminal records and ethnic-sounding names on young men’s employment chances in Germany: Field experimental evidence
[Die Auswirkungen von Vorstrafen und türkischen Namen auf die Beschäftigungschancen junger Männer in Deutschland: Erkenntnisse eines Feldexperiments]

In: Labor Market Related Discrimination of Women and Migrants

Author

Listed:
  • Knobloch, Marcel

Abstract

This paper examines whether job applicants with a criminal conviction are disadvantaged in the German labor market and how the effect of having a conviction compares to the effect of having a Turkish-sounding name. To answer this question, I conducted a preregistered correspondence study in Germany (N = 2,134) with a two-by-two between-subjects design. Unsolicited email requests from fictitious job applicants were sent to employers in the cleaning and security sectors. The findings indicate that having a criminal record and having a Turkish name independently reduce the likelihood of receiving a response. The negative impact of a Turkish name was similar to that of having a criminal record: Applicants with Turkish names and no criminal record received about the same number of positive responses as those with German names and a criminal record. Among all groups, Turkish applicants with a criminal record received the fewest responses. As the study examined initial and informal contact between job applicants and employers, the findings shed light on the challenges faced by convicted applicants in two fields of employment that have less formal application processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Knobloch, Marcel, 2025. "The impact of criminal records and ethnic-sounding names on young men’s employment chances in Germany: Field experimental evidence [Die Auswirkungen von Vorstrafen und türkischen Namen auf die Beschäftigungschancen junger Männer in Deutschland: Er," EconStor Open Access Book Chapters, in: Labor Market Related Discrimination of Women and Migrants, pages 145-173, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:eschap:335104
    DOI: 10.5771/9783748949398-145
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Devah Pager, 2003. "The mark of a criminal record," Natural Field Experiments 00319, The Field Experiments Website.
    2. Kevin T. Schnepel, 2018. "Good Jobs and Recidivism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 447-469, February.
    3. Kevin T. Schnepel, 2018. "Good Jobs and Recidivism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 447-469.
    4. Zanker, Claus, 2023. "Branchenanalyse Wach- und Sicherheitsdienste," Working Paper Forschungsförderung 300, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.
    5. Amanda Agan & Sonja Starr, 2018. "Ban the Box, Criminal Records, and Racial Discrimination: A Field Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(1), pages 191-235.
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