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Testing for Discrimination against Lesbians of Different Marital Status: A Field Experiment

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  • Weichselbaumer, Doris

    (University of Linz)

Abstract

In this paper, a correspondence testing experiment is conducted to examine sexual orientation discrimination against lesbians in Germany. Applications for four fictional female characters are sent out in response to job advertisements: a heterosexual single, a married heterosexual, a single lesbian and a lesbian who is in a 'same-sex registered partnership'. Different results are obtained for the two cities investigated, Munich and Berlin. While single lesbians and lesbians in a registered partnership are equally discriminated in comparison to the heterosexual women in the city of Munich, no discrimination based on sexual orientation has been found in Berlin. Furthermore, for a subset of our data we can compare the effects of a randomized versus a paired testing approach, which suggests that under certain conditions, due to increased conspicuity, the paired testing approach may lead to biased results.

Suggested Citation

  • Weichselbaumer, Doris, 2013. "Testing for Discrimination against Lesbians of Different Marital Status: A Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 7425, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7425
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    discrimination; sexual orientation; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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