Economic and Statistical Analysis of Discrimination in Hiring

19 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2002 Last revised: 5 Nov 2022

See all articles by Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

ILR-Cornell University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Robert S. Smith

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Date Written: October 1983

Abstract

Legal and administrative determinations of employers' compliance with "equal employment opportunity" (EEO) requirements often hinge on the issue of the availability of protected class members to employers. That is,courts and affirmative action review agencies compare the hire rates of protected class members (the ratio of the number of protected class members hired to the number who applied or who were potentially available) to the comparable ratio for other applicants, in assessing whether an employer's hiring policies meet the standards required of them by equal opportunity regulations. The purpose of this paper is to review what economic theory suggests affects availability and to analyze the extent to which these factors are considered in administrative or judicial decisions concerning hiring policies. In our analyses, we point out areas where there seem tobe inconsistencies or unresolved issues.

Suggested Citation

Ehrenberg, Ronald G. and Smith, Robert Stewart, Economic and Statistical Analysis of Discrimination in Hiring (October 1983). NBER Working Paper No. w1222, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=227543

Ronald G. Ehrenberg (Contact Author)

ILR-Cornell University ( email )

Higher Education Research Institute
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
United States
607-255-3026 (Phone)
607-255-4496 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Robert Stewart Smith

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations ( email )

Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
45
Abstract Views
1,188
PlumX Metrics