Abstract
ABSTRACT Focusing on birthplace (foreign vs. domestic) and origin group (European vs. Middle Eastern or African), this article examines the effects of cultural distance signals on discrimination against ethnic minority job applicants. Drawing on a cross-nationally harmonised correspondence test (N = 5780), we investigate how employers in five Western European destination countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the U.K.) respond to job applications from majority and minority group members, with minority job applicants being either very similar (domestic-born and/or European origin) to the majority population or rather different (foreign-born and/or Middle Eastern/African). Our results are generally consistent with taste-based discrimination theory. Employers pay attention to signals of cultural distance, which results in particularly high levels of discrimination against foreign-born minorities and against minorities originating from Middle Eastern and African countries. Although origin group has a stronger effect on employer responses than birthplace, they jointly exert an additive effect. This results in particularly low labour market chances for foreign-born minorities of Middle Eastern and African origin. Separate country analyses, however, reveal important country differences, both with respect to the size of the minority penalty and the joint effect of birthplace and origin group.
Highlights
A large and ever-growing number of field experiments on hiring discrimination demonstrate that employers discriminate against minorities; this applies to different countries and ethnic or racial minority groups
Some researchers interpret the existence of ethnic discrimination against the children of immigrants and/or the absence of empirical support for statistical discrimination as evidence for taste-based discrimination (e.g. Busetta, Campolo, and Panarello 2018)
Thereafter, we report the results of multivariate probit regression models investigating how the probability of receiving a positive response varies according to minority group members’ place of birth and origin group when controlling for gender, country, occupation, and date of application
Summary
A large and ever-growing number of field experiments on hiring discrimination (correspondence tests) demonstrate that employers discriminate against minorities; this applies to different countries and ethnic or racial minority groups (for reviews, see Baert 2018; Bertrand and Duflo 2017; Quillian et al 2017; Riach and Rich 2002; Rich 2014; Zschirnt and Ruedin 2016). When considering likely causes of the unfair treatment of ethnic and racial minorities, classic economic theory refers to either productivity-related concerns (statistical discrimination; Aigner and Cain 1977; Arrow 1973; Phelps 1972) or to dislike (taste-based discrimination; Becker 1957). Some researchers interpret the existence of ethnic discrimination against the children of immigrants and/or the absence of empirical support for statistical discrimination as evidence for taste-based discrimination (e.g. Busetta, Campolo, and Panarello 2018)
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