Do Firms Discriminate Against the Unemployed? A Field Experiment

Abstract

Discriminatory hiring practices, while of substantial empirical and theoretical interest, are notoriously difficult to document. This paper compares hiring practices in the United States and in Switzerland, using an experimental setup that allows me to isolate the effect of firm decisions on the probability of being invited to a job interview. Firm behavior in these two markets is strikingly different. While businesses operating in Switzerland discriminate heavily against the long-term unemployed, I find no evidence for discriminatory practices among U.S. firms.

Keywords: discrimination, duration dependence, labor market institutions

JEL Classification: J64, J68, J71