Testing For Racial Discrimination In The Labour Market

Racial discrimination in selection for job interview was measured directly by the experimental technique of “corresponding testing.” Carefully-matched pairs of written job applications were sent in response to advertised vacancies in Victoria–a state of Australia. One letter was from an applicant with an Anglo-Celtic name and the other was from an applicant with a Greek or Vietnamese name. Statistically significant discrimination was found against both Vietnamese-named and Greek-named applicants. There was no relationship between the incidence of discrimination and the competitive structure of the employer’s product market.