Working Paper: NBER ID: w26623
Authors: David Neumark
Abstract: I study age discrimination in hiring, exploiting a difference between age-revealed and partially age-blind hiring procedures. Under the first hiring procedure, age is revealed simultaneously with other applicant information and job offer rates are much lower for older than for younger job applicants. Under the second hiring procedure, interview selections are based on detailed, age-blind on-line applications, while subsequent interviews are not age-blind. Older applicants are not under-selected for interviews, but after in-person interviews when age is revealed, older applicants still face a much lower job offer rate. This evidence is strongly consistent with age discrimination in hiring.
Keywords: age discrimination; hiring; labor market discrimination
JEL Codes: J14; J71
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Older applicants (aged 40 and over) under age-revealed procedure (J14) | Lower job offer rates (J63) |
| Age-revealed procedure (J14) | Lower job offer rates for older applicants (J79) |
| Older applicants selected for interviews under age-blind procedure (J14) | Not underselected for interviews (C52) |
| Age revealed (J14) | Drop in job offer rates for older applicants under age-blind procedure (J79) |
| Age-blind procedure (J14) | Equal or higher interview rates for older applicants (J78) |