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What is the Right Profile for Getting a Job? A Stated Choice Experiment of the Recruitment Process

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  • Eriksson, Stefan

    (Uppsala University)

  • Johansson, Per

    (Uppsala University)

  • Langenskiöld, Sophie

    (IFAU)

Abstract

We study the recruitment behavior of Swedish employers using data from a stated choice experiment. In the experiment, the employers are first asked to describe an employee who recently and voluntarily left the firm, and then to choose between two hypothetical applicants to invite to a job interview or to hire as a replacement for their previous employee. The two applicants differ with respect to characteristics such as gender, age, education, experience, ethnicity, religious beliefs, family situation, weight, and health. Our results show that employers discriminate against applicants who are old, non-European, Muslim, Jewish, obese, have several children, or have a history of sickness absence. Moreover, increasing the firms' cost of uncertainty in hiring – through more firm co-payment in the sickness benefit system – may reduce hiring, but does not affect the degree of discrimination. Also, there are only small differences in the degree of discrimination between different types of recruiters and firms. Overall, our results suggest that the discrimination, at least partially, should reflect statistical discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Eriksson, Stefan & Johansson, Per & Langenskiöld, Sophie, 2012. "What is the Right Profile for Getting a Job? A Stated Choice Experiment of the Recruitment Process," IZA Discussion Papers 6691, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6691
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    2. Stefan Eriksson & Per Johansson & Sophie Langenskiöld, 2017. "What is the right profile for getting a job? A stated choice experiment of the recruitment process," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 803-826, September.
    3. Holmlund, Helena & Lindahl, Erica & Roman, Sara, 2023. "Immigrant peers in the class: Effects on natives’ long-run revealed preferences," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Bjorn Anders Gustafsson & Hanna Mac Innes & Torun Österberg, 2017. "Age at immigration matters for labor market integration—the Swedish example," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Adman, Per & Larsson Taghizadeh, Jonas, 2020. "Public officials’ treatment of minority clients," Working Paper Series 2020:12, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    6. Humburg, Martin & van der Velden, Rolf, 2015. "Skills and the graduate recruitment process: Evidence from two discrete choice experiments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 24-41.
    7. Hall, Caroline & Liljeberg, Linus & Lindahl, Erica, 2024. "Firm responses to a more generous insurance against high sick pay costs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    8. Arjan Heyma & Siemen Werff & Aukje Nauta & Guurtje Sloten, 2014. "What Makes Older Job-Seekers Attractive to Employers?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 397-414, December.
    9. Holmlund, Helena & Lindahl, Erica & Roman, Sara, 2021. "Immigrant peers in the class: responses among natives and the effects on long-run revealed preferences," Working Paper Series 2021:16, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    10. Johansson, Gun & Orellana Pozo, Cecilia & Möller, Jette & Nordström, Karin, 2018. "Employment of people with a history of sickness absence," Working Paper Series 2018:14, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    11. Lundborg, Per & Skedinger, Per, 2014. "Employer Attitudes towards Refugee Immigrants," Working Paper Series 1025, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    12. Åslund, Olof & Forslund, Anders & Liljeberg, Linus, 2017. "Labour market entry of non-Labour migrants – Swedish evidence," Working Paper Series 2017:15, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    13. Hensvik, Lena & Rosenqvist, Olof, 2015. "The strength of the weakest link: sickness absence, internal substitutability and worker-firm matching," Working Paper Series 2015:28, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender; age; ethnicity; sickness absence; obesity; discrimination; stated choice experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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