Working Paper: NBER ID: w25849
Authors: Patrick Button; Brigham Walker
Abstract: We conducted a resume correspondence experiment to measure discrimination in hiring faced by Indigenous Peoples in the United States (Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians). We sent employers realistic 13,516 resumes for common jobs (retail sales, kitchen staff, server, janitor, and security) in 11 cities and compared callback rates. We signaled Indigenous status in one of four different ways. We almost never find any differences in callback rates, regardless of the context. These findings hold after numerous robustness checks, although our checks and discussions raise multiple concerns that are relevant to audit studies generally.
Keywords: employment discrimination; indigenous peoples; field experiment; callback rates
JEL Codes: C93; J15; J7
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Racial signals (J15) | Callback rates (E43) |
| Indigenous applicants (J15) | Callback rates (E43) |
| White applicants (J15) | Callback rates (E43) |
| Indigenous status signaling methods (J15) | Callback rates (E43) |
| Upbringing on Indian reservation (J15) | Callback rates (E43) |
| Occupation (J29) | Callback rates (E43) |
| City (R23) | Callback rates (E43) |
| Economic disparities (F63) | Discrimination in hiring practices (J71) |