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Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Cypriot Labour Market: Distastes or Uncertainty?

Author

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  • Drydakis, Nick

    (Anglia Ruskin University)

Abstract

Sexual orientation and employment bias is examined in Cyprus (Republic of Cyprus: Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos) by implementing an experiment for the period 2010-2011. The design is aimed at answering three main questions: Do gay and lesbian people face occupational access constraints and entry wage bias than comparable heterosexuals? Do gay and lesbian people benefit from providing more job-related information? Does the differential treatment between gay/lesbian and heterosexual applicants disappear as the information of the applicants increases? Methodologically, we sent applications to advertised vacancies and we experimented with two information sets the 'sexual orientation' and 'information' of the potential applicants. The estimations suggest that gay and lesbian applicants face significant bias than heterosexual applicants. Moreover, both heterosexual and gay/lesbian applicants gain by providing more job-related information. However, the estimations suggest that the informational premium for sexual orientation minorities could not reduce the discriminatory patterns. The current results indicate that discrimination against sexual orientation minorities in the Cypriot labour market is a matter of preference, not the result of limited information. One strategy the Cypriot government may employ is to try to affect public opinion and people's attitudes towards sexual orientation minorities. This is the first nationwide field experiment in the Cypriot labour market and contributes to the literature as it is the first field study on sexual orientation which tries to disentangle statistical from taste-based discrimination in the labour market.

Suggested Citation

  • Drydakis, Nick, 2012. "Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Cypriot Labour Market: Distastes or Uncertainty?," IZA Discussion Papers 6684, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6684
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    Cited by:

    1. Nick Drydakis, 2019. "Sexual orientation and labor market outcomes," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 111-111, July.
    2. Doris Weichselbaumer, 2015. "Testing for Discrimination against Lesbians of Different Marital Status: A Field Experiment," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 131-161, January.
    3. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Sexual orientation discrimination in the labor market against gay men," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 1027-1058, September.
    4. Clara Cortina & Jorge Rodríguez & M. José González, 2021. "Mind the Job: The Role of Occupational Characteristics in Explaining Gender Discrimination," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 91-110, July.
    5. Baert, Stijn & Picchio, Matteo, 2021. "A signal of (Train)ability? Grade repetition and hiring chances," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 867-878.
    6. Michael E. Martell & Peyton Nash, 2020. "For Love and Money? Earnings and Marriage Among Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 260-294, September.
    7. Baert, Stijn, 2015. "Hiring a Homosexual, Taking a Risk? A Lab Experiment on Employment Discrimination and Risk Aversion," IZA Discussion Papers 9536, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Hannah Van Borm & Marlot Dhoop & Allien Van Acker & Stijn Baert, 2020. "What does someone's gender identity signal to employers?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(6), pages 753-777, March.
    9. Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Meix-Llop, Enric, 2016. "Do schools discriminate against homosexual parents? Evidence from a randomized correspondence experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 133-142.
    10. Rich, Judy, 2014. "What Do Field Experiments of Discrimination in Markets Tell Us? A Meta Analysis of Studies Conducted since 2000," IZA Discussion Papers 8584, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Shahar Sansani & Arik Rozental, 2018. "Who Favours The Gay Community? Experimental Evidence Using Charitable Donations," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 1-16, January.
    12. Gaddis, S. Michael, 2018. "An Introduction to Audit Studies in the Social Sciences," SocArXiv e5hfc, Center for Open Science.
    13. Lippens, Louis & Vermeiren, Siel & Baert, Stijn, 2023. "The state of hiring discrimination: A meta-analysis of (almost) all recent correspondence experiments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    14. Thierry Laurent & Ferhat Mihoubi, 2017. "Sexual Orientation, Unemployment and Participation: Are Gays Less Employable than Straights?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-44, March.
    15. Mbaye, Souleymane & Bunel, Mathieu & L'Horty, Yannick & Petit, Pascale & Parquet, Loïc du, 2020. "Discriminations in the market for “Lemons”: A multicriteria correspondence test in France," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    16. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2018. "Sexual Orientation, Labour Earnings, and Household Income in Canada," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 41-55, March.
    17. Drydakis, Nick & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2020. "Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Labour Market Outcomes: New Patterns and Insights," GLO Discussion Paper Series 627, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Gayane Baghumyan, 2023. "Sexual-Orientation Discrimination and Biological Attributions: Experimental Evidence from Russia," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp762, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    19. Granberg, Mark & Andersson, Per A. & Ahmed, Ali, 2020. "Hiring Discrimination Against Transgender People: Evidence from a Field Experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Baert, Stijn, 2017. "Hiring Discrimination: An Overview of (Almost) All Correspondence Experiments Since 2005," IZA Discussion Papers 10738, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Mary Eschelbach Hansen & Michael E. Martell, 2014. "Self-Identified Sexual Orientation and the Lesbian Earnings Differential," Working Papers 2014-13, American University, Department of Economics.
    22. Jorge Rodríguez Menés & Marti Rovira, 2021. "Assessing Discrimination in Correspondence Studies," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 50(4), pages 1584-1622, November.
    23. Drydakis, Nick, 2021. "The Economics of Being LGBT. A Review: 2015-2020," GLO Discussion Paper Series 980, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    24. Dilmaghani, Maryam & Dean, Jason, 2020. "Sexual orientation and homeownership in Canada," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    25. David Neumark, 2018. "Experimental Research on Labor Market Discrimination," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 799-866, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    taste theory of discrimination; entry wage offers; statistical theory of discrimination; sexual orientation; hiring discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition

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