Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Shirshikova, Alina
Author-workplace-name: ROA / Human capital in the region
Author-Name: Cörvers, Frank
Author-workplace-name: RS: GSBE MORSE, RS: FdR Institute ITEM, RS: GSBE - MACIMIDE, ROA / Human capital in the region
Author-Name: Montizaan, Raymond
Author-workplace-name: RS: GSBE UM-BIC, ROA / Labour market and training
Author-Name: Pfeifer, Harald
Author-workplace-name: RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Labour market and training
Title: Can skills alleviate ethnic discrimination in hiring?
Abstract: This study investigates whether the social, digital, and analytical skills of job applicants,<br/>as well as their knowledge about the profession, can mitigate ethnic disparities<br/>in entry-level positions in the labour market. We conducted a survey experiment<br/>among a large, nationally representative sample of German firms that<br/>hire apprentices. We asked recruiters to evaluate the probability of inviting fictitious<br/>applicants to a job interview based on randomised characteristics, including<br/>ethnicity, skill quality, gender, time of residence, and education level. Our results<br/>show heterogeneous effects of skills on ethnic discrimination. While social skills<br/>help alleviate discrimination, our results indicate that discrimination intensifies at<br/>higher levels of knowledge about the profession, implying greater disparities due to<br/>ethnic discrimination at the top of the skill distribution. We also found that the<br/>effect of skills differs depending on the ethnicity of the applicant.
Classification-JEL: i24,j15,j23,j24,j71
Series: ROA Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 20251211
Number: 002
File-URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/287709103/ROA_RM_2025_2.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 6196606
Handle: Repec:unm:umaror:2025002
DOI: 10.26481/umaror.2025002