Employer Neighborhoods and Racial Discrimination / Amanda Y. Agan, Sonja B. Starr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Agan, Amanda Y.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Starr, Sonja B.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w28153.

NBER working paper series no. w28153

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

Using a large field experiment, we show that racial composition of employer neighborhoods predicts employment discrimination patterns in a direction suggesting in-group bias. Our data also show racial disparities in the geographic distribution of job postings. Simulations illustrate how these patterns combine to shape disparities. When jobs are located far from Black neighborhoods, Black applicants are doubly disadvantaged: discrimination patterns disfavor them, and they have fewer nearby opportunities. Finally, building on prior work on Ban-the-Box laws, we show that employers in less Black neighborhoods appear much likelier to stereotype Black applicants as potentially criminal when they lack criminal record information.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2020.