Physical Disability and Labor Market Discrimination: Evidence from a Field Experiment

30 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2018

See all articles by Charles Bellemare

Charles Bellemare

Université Laval - Département d'Économique; Centre Interuniversitaire sur le Risque, les Politiques Economiques et l'Emploi (CIRPÉE); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Marion Goussé

Université Laval - Département d'Économique

Guy Lacroix

Université Laval - Département d'Économique

Steeve Marchand

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 24, 2018

Abstract

We investigate the determinants and extent of labor market discrimination toward people with physical disabilities using a large scale field experiment. Applications were randomly sent to 1477 private firms advertising open positions. We find that average callback rates of disabled and non-disabled applicants are respectively 14.4% and 7.2%. We find this differential does not result from accessibility constraints related to firm infrastructures. We also find that mentioning eligibility to a government subsidy to cover the cost of workplace adaptation does not increase callback rates. Finally, we estimate that a lower bound of the proportion of discriminating firms is 49.7%.

Keywords: discrimination, disabilities, partial identification

JEL Classification: J710, J680

Suggested Citation

Bellemare, Charles and Goussé, Marion and Lacroix, Guy and Marchand, Steeve, Physical Disability and Labor Market Discrimination: Evidence from a Field Experiment (April 24, 2018). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6986, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3194437 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3194437

Charles Bellemare (Contact Author)

Université Laval - Département d'Économique ( email )

2325 Rue de l'Université
Ste-Foy, Quebec G1K 7P4 G1K 7P4
Canada

Centre Interuniversitaire sur le Risque, les Politiques Economiques et l'Emploi (CIRPÉE)

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Ste-Foy, Quebec G1K 7P4
Canada

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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

Marion Goussé

Université Laval - Département d'Économique ( email )

2325 Rue de l'Université
Ste-Foy, Quebec G1K 7P4 G1K 7P4
Canada

Guy Lacroix

Université Laval - Département d'Économique ( email )

2325 Rue de l'Université
Ste-Foy, Quebec G1K 7P4 G1K 7P4
Canada
418-656-2024 (Phone)
418-656-7798 (Fax)

Steeve Marchand

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )

Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia

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