Customer Discrimination in the Workplace: Evidence from Online Sales

Erin Munro Kelley, Gregory Lane, Matthew Giovanni Pecenco and Edward Rubin

No 10228, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Many workers are evaluated on their ability to engage with customers. This paper measures the impact of gender-based customer discrimination on the productivity of online sales agents working across Sub-Saharan Africa. Using a novel framework that randomly varies the gender of names presented to customers without changing worker behavior, we find that the assignment of a female-sounding name leads to 50 percent fewer purchases by customers. The results appear to be driven by relatively lower interest in engaging with female workers. Since worker productivity informs firm hiring, pay, and promotion decisions, these results are important for understanding the persistence of identity-based discrimination in the labor market.

Date: 2022-11-10
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Working Paper: Customer Discrimination in the Workplace: Evidence from Online Sales (2023)
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