RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Partisan Discrimination in Hiring*
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1124-13970R2
DO 10.3368/jhr.1124-13970R2
A1 Abel, Martin
A1 Robbett, Andrea
A1 Stone, Daniel F.
YR 2025
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2025/09/02/jhr.1124-13970R2.abstract
AB This study experimentally investigates the role of politics in hiring decisions. Participants acted as employers, determining the highest wage to offer candidates based only on their demographic characteristics, education, and partisanship. We find that both Democratic and Republican participants significantly favor co-partisans, with an out-partisan wage penalty of 7.5%. Discrimination is consistent across tasks that focus respectively on competence, shirking, feedback responsiveness, and voluntary effort, and appears largely driven by biased beliefs about partisan productivity, while affective polarization is also predictive of the out-partisan wage penalty. Discrimination does not increase in a treatment where workers benefit financially from being hired.