Disclosing the 'Big C': What Does Cancer Survivorship Signal to Employers?

Philippe Sterkens (), Adelina Sharipova and Stijn Baert
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Philippe Sterkens: Ghent University

No 15349, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: To study hiring discrimination against cancer survivors, we conduct a vignette experiment in which American and British recruiters evaluate fictitious job candidates. Candidates differed by periods of non-employment in their career, including non-employment due to suffering from cancer. We study the effect of cancer experiences on the recruiters' hiring decisions, as well as its effect on underlying candidate perceptions, related to various potential forms of stigma identified in the literature. We find that employment opportunities are lower for candidates with a history of cancer, compared to candidates without such a gap. This penalty is particularly explained by perceptions that these candidates will have higher sick leave probabilities and create additional costs. However, relative to candidates with a comparable gap due to depression or personal reasons, former cancer patients are less stigmatised, with relatively favourable assessments of their emotional abilities, social abilities, motivation and positive impact on workplace culture.

Keywords: depression; cancer; hiring discrimination; signalling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I12 J70 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2022-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-hea and nep-lma
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Published - published in: European Journal of Health Economics, 2024, 24, 671–688

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Related works:
Journal Article: Disclosing the ‘Big C’: what does cancer survivorship signal to employers? (2024)
Working Paper: Disclosing the ‘Big C’: What Does Cancer Survivorship Signal to Employers? (2022)
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