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Labour Market Discrimination against Former Juvenile Delinquents: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Author

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  • Baert, Stijn

    (Ghent University)

  • Verhofstadt, Elsy

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

We identify hiring discrimination against former juvenile delinquents in a direct way. To this end we conduct a field experiment in the Belgian labour market. We find that labour market discrimination is indeed a major barrier in the transition to work for former juvenile delinquents. Labour market entrants disclosing a history of juvenile delinquency get about 22 percent less callback compared to their counterparts without a criminal record. This discrimination is more outspoken among the low-educated.

Suggested Citation

  • Baert, Stijn & Verhofstadt, Elsy, 2013. "Labour Market Discrimination against Former Juvenile Delinquents: Evidence from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 7845, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7845
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Crime scars: can recessions produce career criminals?
      by Blog Admin in British Politics and Policy at LSE on 2015-08-04 11:00:02

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Neumark, 2018. "Experimental Research on Labor Market Discrimination," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 799-866, September.
    2. Lavecchia, Adam & Oreopoulos, Philip & Spencer, Noah, 2024. "The impact of comprehensive student support on crime," CLEF Working Paper Series 65, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    3. Lavecchia, Adam M. & Oreopoulos, Philip & Spencer, Noah, 2024. "The Impact of Comprehensive Student Support on Crime: Evidence from the Pathways to Education Program," IZA Discussion Papers 16724, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Stijn Baert & Dieter Verhaest, 2019. "Unemployment or Overeducation: Which is a Worse Signal to Employers?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Ali M. Ahmed & Elisabeth Lång, 2017. "The employability of ex-offenders: a field experiment in the Swedish labor market," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Baert, Stijn, 2017. "Hiring Discrimination: An Overview of (Almost) All Correspondence Experiments Since 2005," GLO Discussion Paper Series 61, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Baert, Stijn & Norga, Jennifer & Thuy, Yannick & Van Hecke, Marieke, 2016. "Getting grey hairs in the labour market. An alternative experiment on age discrimination," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 86-101.
    8. Gaddis, S. Michael, 2018. "An Introduction to Audit Studies in the Social Sciences," SocArXiv e5hfc, Center for Open Science.
    9. Adolfo Sachsida & Mario J. C. Mendonca & Paulo R. A. Loureiro & Antonio Nascimento Junior & Roberto Ellery & Tito Belchior Silva Moreira, 2018. "Crime and Discrimination in the Labor Market: An Empirical Approach," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(3), pages 196-204, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    hiring discrimination; field experiments; juvenile delinquency; transitions in youth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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