Discrimination: Believe it and You'll See It

Ali M. Ahmed ()
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Ali M. Ahmed: Centre for Labour Market Policy Research (CAFO), Postal: Centre for Labour Market Policy Research (CAFO), Dept of Economics and Statistics, School of Management and Economics, Växjö University , SE 351 95 Växjö, Sweden

No 2006:10, CAFO Working Papers from Centre for Labour Market Policy Research (CAFO), School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University

Abstract: This paper presents a model where workers’beliefs and expectations about discrimination are significant. Identical firms announce vacancies and starting wages and workers apply to the firm. Workers are of two types, b and g, but identical in productivity. Firms do not prefer a particular type of worker over another. There is however a common belief among all workers that type b workers are discriminated against. This causes type b workers to avoid applying for jobs that offer wages perceived to be too high, since such workers believe that they don’t stand a chance against type g workers. In equilibrium some firms announce a job and high wages thereby attracting only type g workers, while others announce with low wages thereby attracting only type b workers.

Keywords: Discrimination; Workers’ beliefs; Directed search (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J60 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-09-25
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:vxcafo:2006_010

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