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Employment Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Button, Patrick

    (Tulane University)

  • Walker, Brigham

    (Tulane University)

Abstract

We conducted a resume correspondence experiment to measure discrimination in hiring faced by Indigenous Peoples in the United States (Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians). We sent employers realistic resumes for common jobs (retail sales, kitchen staff, server, janitor, and security) in 11 cities and compared interview offer rates. We signaled Indigenous status in one of four different ways. Based on 13,516 applications, we do not find hiring discrimination in any context. These findings hold after numerous robustness checks, although our checks and discussions raise multiple concerns that are relevant to audit studies generally.

Suggested Citation

  • Button, Patrick & Walker, Brigham, 2019. "Employment Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Evidence from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 12131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12131
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    2. Lippens, Louis & Dalle, Axana & D'hondt, Fanny & Verhaeghe, Pieter-Paul & Baert, Stijn, 2023. "Understanding ethnic hiring discrimination: A contextual analysis of experimental evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Cahuc, Pierre & Hervelin, Jérémy, 2024. "The effect of workplace vs school-based vocational education on youth unemployment: Evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Nüß, Patrick, 2025. "Management opposition, strikes and union threat," IWH Discussion Papers 17/2025, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    5. Luca Fumarco & Benjamin Harrell & Patrick Button & David Schwegman & E Dils, 2020. "Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity-based Discrimination in Access to Mental Health Care: Evidence from an Audit Correspondence Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Ernst Coupet & Ehab Yamani, 2022. "The impact of the coronavirus on African American unemployment: lessons from history," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 56(1), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Shin, Eun Jin, 2023. "Decomposing neighborhood disparities in bicycle crashes: A Gelbach decomposition analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 156-172.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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