Systemic Discrimination Iterated Audit

Last registered on March 02, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Systemic Discrimination Iterated Audit
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010991
Initial registration date
February 22, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 02, 2023, 7:02 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Alex Imas
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-05-03
End date
2022-05-11
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
Discrimination
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We implement an iterated audit design to capture the extent to which total discrimination in the market is 'systemic,' that is, due to discrimination from another point in time and/or domain. We used a hiring and recruitment agency to recruit hiring managers (N = 208) with experience in evaluating applicants to entry-level jobs and who were currently looking for employees. These hiring managers were incentivized to evaluate fictitious resumes to an entry level job on the likelihood of the applicant being hired for the job, on a scale from 1 to 10. They were shown 4 resumes drawn at random from 3 sets. Sets A and C differed on group identity as well as prior work experience, while sets A and B differed on group identity only. We compare the hiring likelihood between the three sets to obtain measures of total, direct, and systemic discrimination.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Imas, Alex. 2023. "Systemic Discrimination Iterated Audit." AEA RCT Registry. March 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10991-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We implement an iterated audit design to capture the extent to which total discrimination in the market is 'systemic,' that is, due to discrimination from another point in time and/or domain. We used a hiring and recruitment agency to recruit hiring managers (N = 208) with experience in evaluating applicants to entry-level jobs and who were currently looking for employees. These hiring managers were incentivized to evaluate fictitious resumes to an entry level job on the likelihood of the applicant being hired for the job, on a scale from 1 to 10. They were shown 4 resumes drawn at random from 3 sets. Sets A and C differed on group identity as well as prior work experience, while sets A and B differed on group identity only. We compare the hiring likelihood between the three sets to obtain measures of total, direct, and systemic discrimination.
Intervention Start Date
2022-05-03
Intervention End Date
2022-05-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We are primarily interested in differences in the hiring likelihood between sets of resumes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Hiring managers were incentivized to evaluate fictitious resumes to an entry level job on the likelihood of the applicant being hired for the job, on a scale from 1 to 10. They were shown 4 resumes drawn at random from 3 sets. Sets A and C differed on group identity as well as prior work experience, while sets A and B differed on group identity only. Each set contained 6 resumes.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was done by computer within the online experiment.
Randomization Unit
Randomization was done at the observation level (i.e., each resume was randomly selected).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
208 evaluators * 4 resumes = 832 observations
Sample size: planned number of observations
208 evaluators * 4 resumes = 832 observations
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
208 evaluators * 4 resumes = 832 observations
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Chicago
IRB Approval Date
2022-04-19
IRB Approval Number
IRB22-0620
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials