Cumulative disadvantage? The role of race compared to ethnicity, religion, and non-white phenotype in explaining hiring discrimination in the U.S. labour market

Numerous correspondence studies have found strong and persistent evidence for racial discrimination in the U.S. labour market. However, since in the majority of studies race was the only variable that was manipulated, it is difficult to disentangle whether it is the ethnic background, the phenotype, the religious affiliation, or a combination of all that drives hiring discrimination. To answer this question, I draw on the theoretical framework of intersectionality and look at the role of ethnicity, as well as religion and non-white phenotype, and how they mediate discrimination outcomes using data from a correspondence study that was conducted across 49 states in the U.S. (N=2,107). The results show that next to racial preferences, employers also have ethnic preferences that influence their hiring decisions. In addition, I find significant evidence for an anti-Muslim bias which is stronger for phenotypical whites than for phenotypical non-whites. Although the overall penalty for applicants who are ascribed non-whites and who additionally have a Muslim affiliation is higher in magnitude, the penalty is not statistically different from the penalty of either being non-white or having a Muslim religious affiliation only. This result is not in line with intersectional theory and suggests that for some employers, one signal of otherness (either non-whiteness or Muslim religious affiliation) is enough to elicit strong bias

Judging Without Knowing: How people evaluate others based on phenotype and country of origin - Technical Report

This report describes the design, data, and main results of an online survey (i.e., the "Judging Without Knowing" survey) that was conducted between October 2017 and June 2018 with more than 2,000 registered members on Clickworker (a commercial survey company in Germany). The survey was conducted in order to provide a post-hoc test of the stimulus material (photos) that was used in two correspondence tests on labor market discrimination (i.e., the ADIS and GEMM studies) and to enable further analyses on the role of ethnic stereotypes for ethnic discrimination in hiring. The survey consisted of two parts. The first part of the survey was a post-hoc validation study that aimed at providing an empirical test of the comparability of the photos (phenotype stimuli) from the ADIS and GEMM studies with regard to attractiveness, (ascribed) competence, and sympathy. The second part of the survey studied the stereotypes Germans have about different immigrant groups in Germany. In contrast to previous studies, we asked respondents to rate in how far a range of bipolar adjectives that belong to different stereotype content models (i.e., SCM, 2d-ABC model, and facet model) fit for 38 different ethnic origin groups. In addition, we randomly varied whether respondents had to provide their personal view ("I think …") or their view of the nationally shared stereotype ("Germans think …"). Overall, our findings show that respondents evaluated the photos from the ADIS and GEMM studies differently - but most differences were not substantial. Evaluations differed more strongly between respondents than between photos, and more strongly between photos of males and females and photos series (i.e., original photos and photos that were adjusted with image processing software) than between phenotype groups. The stereotype survey suggests that instruction matters. Respondents rate the different origin groups more positively when asked to express their own opinion than when asked to state the opinion of the Germans. Second, our results raise doubts as for whether Communion is the primary dimension when it comes to stereotypes about immigrant groups in Germany. Ascribed Capacity, Beliefs, and Power seem more important than ascribed Communion. Finally, there seems to be a main divide between the (poor) global south and the (wealthy) global north. Stereotypes about immigrant groups from the global south are generally more negative than stereotypes about immigrants from the global north

The ADIS study: a large-scale correspondence test on labor market discrimination in Germany - Technical Report

The Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung "ADIS" project is a large scale correspondence study that was conducted in Germany between October 2014 and April 2016 with the aim to study labor market discrimination against second generation immigrants. In particular, the experiment was designed for two purposes: First, to decompose drivers of ethnic discrimination in the labor market and to understand the role of phenotype, country of origin, and religion in order to explain ethnic hierarchies; and second, to test economic theories of taste-based and statistical discrimination models, in order to explain discriminatory hiring decisions. Previous studies on ethnic labor market discrimination have provided strong evidence of its occurrence, but provide limited insight into the mechanisms behind it and the causes of variation in rates of discrimination against different ethnic, racial, and religious groups. In this report we describe our multidimensional design that tests rates of discrimination across 35 ethnic groups, for which we vary productivity relevant information (such as grades and reference letters) as well as phenotype and religious background of the applicants. The study is based on applications to 7,557 job vacancies with male and female applicants in eight professions across Germany. In this technical report we will discuss our research design in depth and give detailed insight into the implementation of the study and the challenges during data collection, with a main focus on the choice of the individual treatments and how they were operationalized.Das Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung "ADIS" Projekt ist eine großangelegte Korrespondenzteststudie, die deutschlandweit zwischen Oktober 2014 und April 2016 durchgeführt wurde. Während in der Vergangenheit mit Hilfe von Korrespondenzteststudien bereits eindrücklich nachgewiesen werden konnte, dass Bewerber mit Migrationshintergrund auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt benachteiligt werden, geben diese Studien wenig Einblick in die zugrundeliegenden Ursachen und Mechanismen. Ziel der Studie war es daher, das Auftreten und das Ausmaß von Diskriminierung gegenüber qualifizierten Migranten zweiter Generation zu untersuchen und hierbei insbesondere zwei Fragestellungen tiefergehend zu erforschen: Erstens sollen zugrundeliegende Mechanismen ethnischer Diskriminierung auf dem Arbeitsmarkt betrachtet werden. Hierbei wird die Rolle von Faktoren wie ethnischer Gruppe, Religion oder Phänotyp beleuchtet, die eventuell ethnische Hierarchien erklären können. Zum anderen sollen Annahmen zweier unterschiedlicher ökonomischer Erklärungsmodelle für diskriminierende Entscheidungen (präferenzbasierte und statistische Diskriminierung) untersucht werden. Für die ADIS-Studie nutzen wir ein multidimensionales Forschungsdesign und messen das Ausmaß von Diskriminierung für insgesamt 35 verschiedene ethnische Gruppen, für die sowohl der Phänotyp und die Religionszugehörigkeit, als auch produktivitätsrelevante Indikatoren wie Zeugnisnoten und Referenzschreiben variiert werden. Die Studie basiert auf rund 7,557 Beobachtungen von männlichen und weiblichen Kandidaten, die sich deutschlandweit auf insgesamt acht verschiedene Berufe beworben haben. Im folgenden Bericht diskutieren wir das Forschungsdesign und geben eine detaillierte Beschreibung der Studienumsetzung sowie der Herausforderungen bei der Datenerhebung und der Operationalisierung der einzelnen Treatments

Latinos in the United States and in Spain: the impact of ethnic group stereotypes on labour market outcomes

Special Issue: Ethnic discrimination in the labour market: Comparing groups across contexts. Results from a cross-national field experimentThis is the first harmonised correspondence study on the recruitment behaviour of employers in the US and in Spain. By comparing the call-back rates of Latino minority and majority group applicants, we measure the labour market discrimination that Latinos experience in these two national contexts. Due to their proximity in terms of culture and language, Latinos are expected to experience less discrimination in Spain than in the US. This is supported by our findings, as the level of discrimination against Latinos in the US is high and statistically significant, while we find no evidence of statistically significant discrimination against Latinos in Spain. In line with research on the intersection between ethnicity and gender in stereotyping, we find gender differences regarding discrimination in both countries, though in opposite directions. While Latino males are more discriminated than Latino females in the US, Latino females experience more discrimination than their male counterparts in Spain, who are not treated differently from Spanish native men. Our results indicate that ethnic group stereotypes are country-specific and different for males and females of the same ethnicity. Moreover, we find partial evidence that ethnic group stereotypes can be counteracted when favourable information on warmth and competence is provided

Taste or statistics? A correspondence study of ethnic, racial and religious labour market discrimination in Germany

In this study we compare rates of discrimination across German-born applicants from thirty-five ethnic groups in which various racial and religious treatment groups are embedded, this study allows us to better distinguish taste and statistical sources of discrimination, and to assess the relative importance of ethnicity, phenotype and religious affiliation as signals triggering discrimination. The study is based on applications to almost 6,000 job vacancies with male and female applicants in eight occupations across Germany. We test taste discrimination based on cultural value distance between groups against statistical discrimination based on average education levels and find that discrimination is mostly driven by the former. Based on this pattern, ethnic, racial and religious groups whose average values are relatively distant from the German average face the strongest discrimination. By contrast, employers do not treat minority groups with value patterns closer to Germany’s different from ethnic German applicants without a migration background

Discrimination against Turkish minorities in Germany and the Netherlands: field experimental evidence on the effect of diagnostic information on labour market outcomes

Previous studies have found that the labour market outcomes of Turkish minorities are slightly better in Germany than in the Netherlands. In this paper we test one of the explanations: differences in ethnic discrimination in hiring. We use a harmonised field experiment to test whether discrimination against job candidates of Turkish origin (age 23-25) varies across Germany and the Netherlands, while holding individual characteristics of job seekers constant. We find that, compared to majority candidates, job candidates of Turkish origin are on average eleven percentage points less likely to receive a positive call-back. Moreover, we find that discrimination against Turkish minorities is significantly higher in the Netherlands than in Germany. In Germany, job candidates of Turkish origin are five percentage points less likely to receive a call-back than equally qualified majority candidates, whereas in the Netherlands this ethnic gap is fifteen percentage points. However, the presented evidence does not support the often-mentioned argument that the amount of diagnostic information in application materials explains why discrimination against Turkish minorities is lower in Germany. Overall, adding diagnostic information has little effect on the relative employment chances of job applicants of Turkish origin, both in Germany and the Netherlands

Muslim by default or religious discrimination? Results from a cross-national field experiment on hiring discrimination

We use data from a cross-nationally harmonised field experiment to examine discrimination towards Muslim job applicants in five European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom). We focus on job applicants originating from countries that have a substantial Muslim population: of these, some signalled closeness to Islam in their job application while others did not. With this design, we can empirically disentangle anti-Muslim discrimination (a ‘disclosed Muslim’ effect) from the possible stigma of originating from countries where Islam is prevalent (a ‘Muslim by default’ effect). Our double-comparative design allows us to compare the extent of anti-Muslim discrimination faced by different origin groups in destination countries characterised by a varying history of church-state relations and distinctive approaches to grant cultural and religious rights to minorities. We find alarming levels of discrimination, especially towards male applicants from more visible groups. Anti-Muslim discrimination and origin-based discrimination independently contribute to the severe disadvantage faced by ethnic and religious minorities, a disadvantage that is especially severe in the Norwegian labour market

Ethnische Hierarchien in der Bewerberauswahl: ein Feldexperiment zu den Ursachen von Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung

In einem großen Feldexperiment haben wir die Ursachen von Diskriminierung gegenüber Bewerbern mit Migrationshintergrund untersucht. Dazu versendeten wir tausende Bewerbungen von fiktiven Personen an reale Stellenausschreibungen in acht Berufen im gesamten Bundesgebiet. Neben der Ethnizität der Bewerber (deutschstämmig oder Migrationshintergrund in einem von 34 Herkunftsländern), ihrem phänotypischen Erscheinungsbild (Schwarz, Weiß oder Asiatisch) und ihrer Religionszugehörigkeit (keine, Christlich, Muslimisch oder Buddhistisch/Hinduistisch) variierten wir weitere Merkmale der Bewerbungen, wie das Geschlecht des Bewerbers, den Notendurchschnitt, ob der Bewerbung ein Referenzschreiben beilag und ob Informationen über die derzeitige Vertragssituation bereitgestellt wurden. Unsere Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass Bewerber mit Migrationshintergrund gegenüber Bewerbern ohne Migrationshintergrund diskriminiert werden. Allerdings variiert das Ausmaß der Diskriminierung deutlich zwischen Herkunftsgruppen: Bewerber mit Migrationshintergrund in West- und Südeuropa sowie Ostasien werden nicht signifikant diskriminiert, während andere Herkunftsgruppen erhebliche Nachteile erfahren. Auch Bewerber mit schwarzem Phänotyp und mit muslimischer Religion erfahren signifikante Diskriminierung. Mit Blick auf die klassischen Erklärungsansätze für Diskriminierung auf dem Arbeitsmarkt - d.h. präferenzbasierte und statistische Diskriminierung - zeigen unsere Analysen, dass die kulturelle Distanz zwischen Herkunftsländern und Deutschland die Diskriminierung gegenüber verschiedenen Gruppen deutlich besser erklärt als leistungsbezogene Gruppenmerkmale wie der durchschnittliche Bildungsstand. Somit sprechen unsere Befunde stärker für präferenzbasierte Diskriminierung als für statistische Diskriminierung.We conducted a large-scale field experiment to investigate the drivers of discrimination against second generation immigrant job applicants. To these ends, we sent thousands of applications from fictitious persons to real job openings in eight professions all over Germany. Next to job applicants' ethnicity (German or migration background in one out of 34 origin countries), phenotype (Asian, Black, White), and religious affiliation (none, Buddhist or Hindu, Christian, or Muslim), we varied several other characteristics of the applications, such as applicants' gender, final grades, whether or not a reference letter was included, as well as information about applicants' current contract. Our results confirm that employers discriminate against immigrant job applicants. The magnitude of discrimination, however, varies strongly between origin groups. Whereas employers do not discriminate against Western and Southern European and East Asian immigrants, other origin groups experience significant disadvantages. In addition, we observe substantial disadvantages for Black and Muslim job applicants. With respect to classic theories about the drivers of discrimination on the labor market, that is, taste-based and statistical discrimination, we find that the cultural distance between origin countries and Germany explains discrimination against different groups much better than productivity-related group characteristics, such as average levels of education. Consequently, our empirical findings are more supportive of taste-based discrimination than they are of statistical discrimination theories

The "Big Two" in Hiring Discrimination: Evidence From a Cross-National Field Experiment

We tested whether signaling warmth and competence (“Big Two”) in job applications increases hiring chances. Drawing on a field experimental data from five European countries, we analyzed the responses of employers (N = 13,162) to applications from fictitious candidates of different origin: native candidates and candidates of European, Asian, or Middle-Eastern/African descent. We found that competence signals slightly increased invitation rates, while warmth signals had no effect. We also found ethnic discrimination, a female premium, and differences in callbacks depending on job characteristics. Importantly, however, providing stereotype signals did not reduce the level of ethnic discrimination or the female premium. Likewise, we found little evidence for interactions between stereotype signals and job demands. While speaking against the importance of “Big Two” signals in application documents, our results highlight the importance of group membership and hopefully stimulate further research on the role of in particular ethnic stereotypes for discrimination in hiring

Gender Discrimination in Hiring: Evidence from a Cross-National Harmonized Field Experiment

Gender discrimination is often regarded as an important driver of women's disadvantage in the labour market, yet earlier studies show mixed results. However, because different studies employ different research designs, the estimates of discrimination cannot be compared across countries. By utilizing data from the first harmonized comparative field experiment on gender discrimination in hiring in six countries, we can directly compare employers' callbacks to fictitious male and female applicants. The countries included vary in a number of key institutional, economic, and cultural dimensions, yet we found no sign of discrimination against women. This cross-national finding constitutes an important and robust piece of evidence. Second, we found discrimination against men in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, and no discrimination against men in Norway and the United States. However, in the pooled data the gender gradient hardly differs across countries. Our findings suggest that although employers operate in quite different institutional contexts, they regard female applicants as more suitable for jobs in female-dominated occupations, ceteris paribus, while we find no evidence that they regard male applicants as more suitable anywhere.This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 649255; the Research Council of Norway, grant number 287016; The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), (016.Vidi.185.041). We thank Laura García Llamas and Louis Klobes for valuable research assistance