A model of employment discrimination against minorities

This paper explores how minority group size moderates the effect of employer prejudice on hiring discrimination. We propose a simple job search model in which prejudiced employers retain hiring discretion but are legally required to offer equal pay to all workers. Our analysis suggests that employers are more likely to exclude smaller minority groups from employment; however, as the minority population increases, employment discrimination diminishes and may even vanish. We further show that this result persists even when employer prejudice varies across firms and intensifies with minority group size.