Discrimination and the Effects of Drug Testing on Black Employment

Abigail Wozniak

No 6605, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

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% and relative wages by 1.4-13.0%, with the largest shifts among low skilled black men. Results suggest that employers substitute white women for blacks in the absence of testing.

Keywords: labor market outcome disparities; employer drug testing; discrimination; black employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J7 K2 K3 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61 pages
Date: 2012-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - Review of Economics and Statistics, 2015, 93 (7), 548-566

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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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