Working Paper: NBER ID: w27581
Authors: Gordon B. Dahl; Matthew M. Knepper
Abstract: We test whether age discrimination rises during recessions using two complementary analyses. Confidential EEOC microdata reveal that age-related firing and hiring charges rise by 3.3% and 1.6%, 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 plausible 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; business cycle; employment discrimination
JEL Codes: J23; J64; J71
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Unemployment Rate (J64) | ADEA Firing Charges (J71) |
| Unemployment Rate (J64) | ADEA Hiring Charges (J71) |
| Unemployment Rate (J64) | Fraction of ADEA Cases with Merit (J78) |
| Unemployment Rate (J64) | Callback Rates for Older Women (J78) |