Hiring a Homosexual, Taking a Risk? A Lab Experiment on Employment Discrimination and Risk Aversion

Stijn Baert

No 9536, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We investigate risk aversion as a driver of labour market discrimination against homosexual men. We show that more hiring discrimination by more risk-averse employers is consistent with taste-based and statistical discrimination. To test this hypothesis we conduct a scenario experiment in which experimental employers make a hiring decision concerning a heterosexual or homosexual job candidate. In addition, participants are surveyed on their risk aversion and other characteristics that might correlate with this risk aversion. Analysis of the (post-)experimental data confirms our hypothesis. The probability of a beneficial hiring decision for homosexual candidates decreases by 31.7% when employers are a standard deviation more risk-averse.

Keywords: sexual orientation; statistical discrimination; scenario experiment; hiring discrimination; risk aversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 J15 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2015-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - revised version published as 'Hiring a Gay Man, Taking a Risk?: A Lab Experiment on Employment Discrimination and Risk Aversion' in: Journal of Homosexuality , 2018, 65 (8), 1015 - 1031

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Working Paper: Hiring a Homosexual, Taking a Risk? A Lab Experiment on Employment Discrimination and Risk Aversion (2017)
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