Reasons for Different Levels of Discrimination Among Labor Market Segments: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment¶

Student: Mariya Likhodievskaya

Educational Programme: Joint HSE-NES Undergraduate Program in Economics (Bachelor)

Final Grade: 8

Year of Graduation: 2023

The problem of imperfect information is particularly acute in the labor market, which is why some job seekers face various forms of discrimination. This paper examines how discrimination manifests itself in various segments of the labor market, specifically in relation to the performances related to soft-skills and hard-skills. To do this, a laboratory experiment was conducted in which participants were asked to assume that the proposed candidate completed the task (essay or math test) worse or better than the median student. Based on the results, gender discrimination was not found among respondents. However, other important patterns of behavior were deduced during the study, including differences in confidence in candidates or attitude to risk.

Full text (added May 26, 2023)

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