Employer Neighborhoods and Racial Discrimination

Amanda Agan and Sonja B. Starr

No 28153, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Using a large field experiment, we show that racial composition of employer neighborhoods predicts employment discrimination patterns in a direction suggesting in-group bias. Our data also show racial disparities in the geographic distribution of job postings. Simulations illustrate how these patterns combine to shape disparities. When jobs are located far from Black neighborhoods, Black applicants are doubly disadvantaged: discrimination patterns disfavor them, and they have fewer nearby opportunities. Finally, building on prior work on Ban-the-Box laws, we show that employers in less Black neighborhoods appear much likelier to stereotype Black applicants as potentially criminal when they lack criminal record information.

JEL-codes: J23 J71 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma, nep-ore and nep-ure
Note: LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Amanda Agan & Sonja Starr, 2024. "Employers’ Neighborhoods and Racial Discrimination," The Journal of Legal Studies, vol 53(1), pages 115-158.

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