Do Jobseekers Value Diversity Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Jung Ho Choi, Joseph Pacelli, Kristina M. Rennekamp and Sorabh Tomar
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Joseph Pacelli: Harvard Business School
Kristina M. Rennekamp: Cornell University

Research Papers from Stanford University, Graduate School of Business

Abstract: We examine how information about the diversity of a potential employe r’s workforce affects individuals’ job-seeking behavior, and whether workers’ preferences explain corporate disclosure decisions. We embed a field experiment in job recommendation emails sent from a leading career advice agency in the US. The experimental treatment involves highlighting a diversity metric to jobseekers. Studying 267,494 unique jobseekers, we find that disclosing diversity scores in job postings increases the click-through rate of jobseekers for firms with higher diversity scores. These effects are more pronounced for fe male and entry-level jobseekers. We estimate that jobseekers update their willingness to pay (WTP) for a fi rm’s diversity by $1,463 when faced with a 10% increase in diversity scores relative to the interquartile range. We conduct a follow-up survey with jobseekers to better understand why diversity information was useful to them. Finally, we document that firms in industries characterized by higher jobseeker responsiveness to diversity information tend to voluntarily disclosure diversity metrics in their 10-Ks under new SEC disclosure requirements. That is , disclosure choices partially reflect ‘jobseeker materiality.’ Overall, our findings generate important insights regarding jobseekers’ demand for diversity information.

JEL-codes: C93 D40 D83 J64 M14 M41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-exp and nep-lab
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecl:stabus:4010

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