Ban the Box: The Effects of Criminal Background Information on Labor Market Outcomes

Ashley Hirashima
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Ashley Hirashima: University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) and Department of Economics

No 201606, Working Papers from University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper seeks to investigate the effects of Ban-the-Box laws across the United States. Ban-the-Box laws make it illegal to ask whether an applicant has been convicted of a crime on a job application. The effects are consistent with that of statistical discrimination where the policy is having adverse effects on individuals labor market outcomes. I find that without perfect information about an individual's criminal history, firms base their perceived productivity of a potential applicant on an expected relationship between race and criminality. This results in negative effects on labor market outcomes for all individuals, especially for black males, who are particularly vulnerable.

Keywords: Labor discrimination; Public Policy; Labor Demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 J38 J71 J78 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law, nep-lma, nep-net and nep-ure
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