Indiscriminate Discrimination: A Correspondence Test for Ethnic Homophily in the Chicago Labor Market

20 Pages Posted: 30 Mar 2011 Last revised: 21 Aug 2013

See all articles by Nicolas Jacquemet

Nicolas Jacquemet

Paris School of Economics (PSE); Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne

Constantine Yannelis

University of Chicago

Date Written: December 1, 2012

Abstract

Numerous field experiments have demonstrated the existence of discrimination in labor markets against specific minority groups. This paper uses a correspondence test to determine whether this discrimination is due to prejudice against specific groups, or a general preference for the majority group. Three groups of identical fabricated resumes are sent to help-wanted advertisements in Chicago newspapers: one with Anglo-Saxon names, one with African-American names, and one with fictitious foreign names whose ethnic origin is unidentifiable to most Americans. Resumes with Anglo-Saxon names generate nearly one third more call-backs than identical resumes with non Anglo-Saxon ones, either African-American or Foreign. We take this as evidence that discriminatory behavior is part of a larger pattern of unequal treatment of any member of non-majority groups, ethnic homophily.

Keywords: Correspondence testing, Discrimination, xenophobia, ethnic homophily

JEL Classification: J71, J64

Suggested Citation

Jacquemet, Nicolas and Yannelis, Constantine, Indiscriminate Discrimination: A Correspondence Test for Ethnic Homophily in the Chicago Labor Market (December 1, 2012). Labour Economics, Vol. 19, No. 65, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1799474 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1799474

Nicolas Jacquemet (Contact Author)

Paris School of Economics (PSE) ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014 75014
France

Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne ( email )

17, rue de la Sorbonne
Paris, 75005
France

HOME PAGE: http://www.nicolasjacquemet.com/

Constantine Yannelis

University of Chicago ( email )

1101 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

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