Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in Western Labor Markets: Empirical Evidence from Field Experiments

Abstract

Previous research has provided compelling evidence for the existence of racial and ethnic discrimination in the labor market (Heath and Di Stasio 2019; Quillian et al. 2017, 2019; Zschirnt and Ruedin 2016). So far, however, it has been unclear whether all racial and ethnic minority groups are equally affected by hiring discrimination. Also, much research has been largely descriptive, providing little insights into the sources of racial and ethnic discrimination in hiring. Using a meta-analysis and a cross-national harmonized field experiment, this dissertation provides new evidence about the extent of discrimination against different racial and ethnic minority groups as well as some of the factors that may affect racial and ethnic discrimination in hiring. This dissertation finds that black and non-western minority groups face higher levels of discrimination than western minority groups. These findings suggest that those who already occupy a vulnerable socioeconomic position in society face the highest risk of discrimination in the labor market. Furthermore, the present study provides more insights into the sources of racial and ethnic discrimination in the labor market by considering the impact of diagnostic information about individual productivity, indicators of group productivity, and the social environments wherein hiring takes place (i.e. national- and regional contexts). Broadly, the findings seem to indicate that overall levels of racial and ethnic discrimination cannot be explained by a lack of productivity-relevant information in application materials (cf. Agerström et al. 2012; Koopmans et al. 2018; Vernby and Dancygier 2019) nor by indicators of skill differences between racial and ethnic minority groups. The evidence here rather suggests that racial and ethnic discrimination is related to (employer perceptions about) origin countries and the broader social context in which employers operate, such as national and regional contexts. All in all, these findings indicate that different contexts of reception (Portes and Rumbaut 2001) can have a strong impact on the distribution of labor market opportunities among different racial and ethnic minority groups.