The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia
The role of employer discrimination in widening labor market differences between men and women has been hypothesized and investigated in different settings. Using a field experiment, this paper examines the presence and magnitude of gender-based di...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/876761597329961148/The-Impact-of-Employer-Discrimination-on-Female-Labor-Market-Outcomes-Experimental-Evidence-from-Tunisia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34368 |
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okr-10986-343682022-09-20T00:12:23Z The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia Alaref, Jumana Nikaein Towfighian, Samira Paez, Gustavo Nicolas Audah, Mohammed LABOR DISCRIMINATION WAGE DIFFERENTIAL GENDER GAP LABOR SKILLS UNEMPLOYMENT LABOR ECONOMICS GENDER ECONOMICS FIELD EXPERIMENT HIRING BIAS The role of employer discrimination in widening labor market differences between men and women has been hypothesized and investigated in different settings. Using a field experiment, this paper examines the presence and magnitude of gender-based discrimination by employers at the point of screening in Tunisia. The study sent out 1,571 fictitious and substantially identical pairs of male and female resumes in response to online job advertisements. On average, women were 2.4 percentage points more likely than men to receive a callback from an employer. However, this average effect hides substantial heterogeneity across economic sectors. In the information technology sector, women were 15 percentage points less likely to receive a callback than men. No discrimination against or in favor of women is found in engineering, whereas in marketing and finance, women were 19 and 4 percentage points more likely to receive a callback, respectively. The paper also finds that, unlike men, women may suffer from discrimination based on their physical appearance. Veiled women were 8.5 percentage points less likely to receive a callback than non-veiled women. Overall, the findings suggest that, at the point of screening, employer discrimination against women in Tunisia is sector specific, and, on its own, it cannot fully explain the complex challenge of female unemployment in the country. 2020-08-20T14:01:44Z 2020-08-20T14:01:44Z 2020-08 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/876761597329961148/The-Impact-of-Employer-Discrimination-on-Female-Labor-Market-Outcomes-Experimental-Evidence-from-Tunisia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34368 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9361 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Middle East and North Africa Tunisia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
LABOR DISCRIMINATION WAGE DIFFERENTIAL GENDER GAP LABOR SKILLS UNEMPLOYMENT LABOR ECONOMICS GENDER ECONOMICS FIELD EXPERIMENT HIRING BIAS |
| spellingShingle |
LABOR DISCRIMINATION WAGE DIFFERENTIAL GENDER GAP LABOR SKILLS UNEMPLOYMENT LABOR ECONOMICS GENDER ECONOMICS FIELD EXPERIMENT HIRING BIAS Alaref, Jumana Nikaein Towfighian, Samira Paez, Gustavo Nicolas Audah, Mohammed The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia |
| geographic_facet |
Middle East and North Africa Tunisia |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9361 |
| description |
The role of employer discrimination in
widening labor market differences between men and women has
been hypothesized and investigated in different settings.
Using a field experiment, this paper examines the presence
and magnitude of gender-based discrimination by employers at
the point of screening in Tunisia. The study sent out 1,571
fictitious and substantially identical pairs of male and
female resumes in response to online job advertisements. On
average, women were 2.4 percentage points more likely than
men to receive a callback from an employer. However, this
average effect hides substantial heterogeneity across
economic sectors. In the information technology sector,
women were 15 percentage points less likely to receive a
callback than men. No discrimination against or in favor of
women is found in engineering, whereas in marketing and
finance, women were 19 and 4 percentage points more likely
to receive a callback, respectively. The paper also finds
that, unlike men, women may suffer from discrimination based
on their physical appearance. Veiled women were 8.5
percentage points less likely to receive a callback than
non-veiled women. Overall, the findings suggest that, at the
point of screening, employer discrimination against women in
Tunisia is sector specific, and, on its own, it cannot fully
explain the complex challenge of female unemployment in the country. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Alaref, Jumana Nikaein Towfighian, Samira Paez, Gustavo Nicolas Audah, Mohammed |
| author_facet |
Alaref, Jumana Nikaein Towfighian, Samira Paez, Gustavo Nicolas Audah, Mohammed |
| author_sort |
Alaref, Jumana |
| title |
The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia |
| title_short |
The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia |
| title_full |
The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia |
| title_fullStr |
The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Impact of Employer Discrimination on Female Labor Market Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Tunisia |
| title_sort |
impact of employer discrimination on female labor market outcomes : experimental evidence from tunisia |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/876761597329961148/The-Impact-of-Employer-Discrimination-on-Female-Labor-Market-Outcomes-Experimental-Evidence-from-Tunisia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34368 |
| _version_ |
1764480753956028416 |