Estimating ethnic discrimination in the labour market using experimental data

Using a field experiment for the period 2008–2009, we examine the impact of ethnicity on women’s labour market outcomes four years after the national adoption of the European Racial and Employment Equality Directives. The estimations lead to the observation that ethnic women face a lower chance of occupational access than comparable Greek women, while, ethnic women’s wage offers are also discriminatory. The estimations suggest that there is segregation and crowding which refers to the fact that ethnic and Greek women face different chances of occupational access based on jobs’ status. Whilst, ethnic women’s easier access to low-status jobs entails lower wages for them. Interestingly, however, ethnic women gain by providing information about themselves to employers. On average, distastes against ethnic women are discussed and appear to explain the biases found here. The segregation pattern of ethnic women in low-status jobs and employers’ statistical motivations are also found to influence their labour performance.