Unintended Effects of Anonymous Résumés

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2015
Volume: 7
Issue: 3
Pages: 1-27

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We evaluate an experimental program in which the French public employment service anonymized résumés for firms that were hiring. Firms were free to participate or not; participating firms were then randomly assigned to receive either anonymous résumés or name-bearing ones. We find that participating firms become less likely to interview and hire minority candidates when receiving anonymous résumés. We show how these unexpected results can be explained by the self-selection of firms into the program and by the fact that anonymization prevents the attenuation of negative signals when the candidate belongs to a minority. (JEL J15, J68, J71)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejapp:v:7:y:2015:i:3:p:1-27
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24