Whose tastes matter? Discrimination against immigrants in the Japanese labour market

Abstract

ABSTRACT The existence and mechanisms of ethnic discrimination in hiring decisions have been extensively studied, but the following two gaps remain: non-Western societies and taste-based discrimination. In this contribution, we investigate whether ethnic discrimination and its mechanisms are similarly observable in the Japanese labour market. Additionally, to reflect Becker’s initial idea, we decompose the sources of taste-based discrimination into employers’ preferences and societal preferences (i.e. perceived co-workers’ and customers’ preferences) and determine which and how preferences drive ethnic discrimination. We conducted factorial survey experiments via web surveys in Japan targeting HR professionals/employers working in almost all industries. The results show that immigrants are severely disadvantaged in hiring. Decomposing taste-based discrimination shows that only employers’ preferences contribute to discrimination, whereas societal preferences do not influence discrimination. However, the magnitude of the effects of employers’ preferences on discrimination depends on societal preferences as follows: hiring decisions are less dependent on employer attitudes towards socially preferred groups than those towards socially non-preferred groups. This study suggests that ethnic discrimination is observable even outside of Western societies and that taste-based discrimination is a more complicated process than expected in previous studies.