1996/06/01 by Bradford Cornell, Ivo Welch · 375 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Actuarial science #Business #Culture, Economy, and Development Studies #Economic Policies and Impacts #Interview #Law #Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research #Political science #Psychology #Quality (philosophy) #Social psychology
paper · doi:10.1086/262033
published in Journal of Political Economy 104(3), 542-571 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 1996/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We show that discrimination can occur even when it is common knowledge that underlying group characteristics do not differ and when employers do not prefer same-group candidates. When employers can judge job applicants' unknown qualities better when candidates belong to the same group and hire the best prospect from a large pool of applicants, the top applicant is likely to have the same background as the employer. The model has policy, empirical, and experimental implications. For example, the model predicts that "screening discrimination" is more likely to occur and persist in sectors in which underlying quality is important but difficult to observe, there are numerous applicants, interviewing (screening) is relatively cheap, and applicants have to acquire job-specific skills.