RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Detecting Discrimination in Audit and Correspondence Studies
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1128
OP 1157
DO 10.3368/jhr.47.4.1128
VO 47
IS 4
A1 David Neumark
YR 2012
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/47/4/1128.abstract
AB Audit studies testing for discrimination have been criticized because applicants from different groups may not appear identical to employers. Correspondence studies address this criticism by using fictitious paper applicants whose qualifications can be made identical across groups. However, Heckman and Siegelman (1993) show that group differences in the variance of unobservable determinants of productivity still can generate spurious evidence of discrimination in either direction. This paper shows how to recover an unbiased estimate of discrimination when the correspondence study includes variation in applicant characteristics that affect hiring. The method is applied to actual data and assessed using Monte Carlo methods.