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The Unintended Consequences of Employer Credit Check Bans for Labor Markets

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  • Kristle Romero Cortes
  • Andrew Glover
  • Murat Tasci

Abstract

Over the last decade, 11 states have restricted employers? access to the credit reports of job applicants. We document a significant decline in county-level vacancies after these laws were enacted: Job postings fall by 5.5 percent in affected occupations relative to exempt occupations in the same county and the same occupation nationwide. Cross-sectional heterogeneity in the estimated effects suggests that employers use credit reports as signals: Vacancies fall more in counties with a large share of subprime residents, while they fall less in occupations with other commonly available signals.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristle Romero Cortes & Andrew Glover & Murat Tasci, 2019. "The Unintended Consequences of Employer Credit Check Bans for Labor Markets," Working Papers 19-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedcwq:190500
    DOI: 10.26509/frbc-wp-201905
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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