Discrimination and the Effects of Drug Testing on Black Employment

Abigail Wozniak

No 13-195, Upjohn Working Papers from W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Abstract: Nearly half of U.S. employers test job applicants and workers for drugs. I use variation in the timing and nature of drug testing regulation to study discrimination against blacks related to perceived drug use. Black employment in the testing sector is suppressed in the absence of testing, consistent with ex ante discrimination on the basis of drug use perceptions. Adoption of pro-testing legislation increases black employment in the testing sector by 7–30 percent and relative wages by 1.4–13.0 percent, with the largest shifts among low skilled black men. Results suggest that employers substitute white women for blacks in the absence of testing.

Keywords: Employment drug testing; discrimination; employment; Current Population Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J7 K2 K3 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Discrimination and the Effects of Drug Testing on Black Employment (2015)
Working Paper: Discrimination and the Effects of Drug Testing on Black Employment (2014)
Working Paper: Discrimination and the Effects of Drug Testing on Black Employment (2012)
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