Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15760
Authors: Gordon Dahl; Matthew Knepper
Abstract: We test whether age discrimination rises during recessions using two complementary analyses. EEOC microdata reveal that age-related firing and hiring charges rise by 3.4% and 1.4%, respectively, for each percentage point increase in a state-industry’s monthly unemployment. Though the opportunity cost of filing falls, the fraction of meritorious claims increases—a sufficient condition for rising discrimination under mild assumptions. Second, we repurpose data from hiring correspondence studies conducted across different cities and time periods during the recovery from the Great Recession. Each percentage point increase in local unemployment reduces the callback rate for older versus younger women by 15%.
Keywords: age discrimination; recessions
JEL Codes: J71; J64; J23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| monthly unemployment (J64) | age-related firing charges (J14) |
| monthly unemployment (J64) | age-related hiring charges (J14) |
| monthly unemployment (J64) | fraction of meritorious claims (G33) |
| local unemployment (J64) | callback rate for older women (J16) |