Expected Discrimination and Job Search

Abstract

We study how expected discrimination affects job applications and interview performance in three field experiments with 2,167 jobseekers living in favelas (urban slums) in Brazil. We focus on antifavela discrimination, which is overestimated by 87\% of the jobseekers. Not asking for a home address only encourages white jobseekers to apply more often, likely because they can pass as nonfavela residents. Merely expecting interviewers to know one's favela address (when they actually do not) reduces average job interview performance by 0.13SD (0.3SD among white jobseekers). Hence, expected discrimination can create self-reinforcing loops and change applicant pool composition.