Stigma and Labor Supply

We designed a three-stage experiment. In stage 1, surveyors will perform a door-to-door survey with favela residents and ask questions about their socioeconomic characteristics and previous work experiences. During the survey, participants will be asked if they want to share their information with an HR firm, which will send them real job ads from our partner. The participants will also perform a skill test and share their beliefs and attitudes about address-based discrimination.

In stage 2, one to eight days after a jobseeker answers the survey from stage 1, the HR firm contacts that person via WhatsApp with an invitation to apply for a set of real full-time sales jobs. Applicants can then fill out an application form. We randomize whether applicants need to disclose their home address to apply, manipulating whether they can expect to suffer address-based discrimination or not.

In stage 3, we invite eligible jobseekers for an interview. Before the interview, with objectivity as the pretext, the receptionist either tells candidates that the interviewer knows their name only or their name and address.

AMENDMENT (2023-06-21): We have included an information treatment in stage 1. We randomly reveal to some participants the actual callback rates in an audit study in which we sent fictitious resumés from the favela and non-favela neighborhoods for sales positions in Rio. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either i) no information, ii) the estimated callback rate for the favela neighborhood, or iii) the estimated callback rate for both neighborhoods.

2023-03-06

2023-08-16

In stage 2:
Progress-related:
- Completing the job application form
- Showing up for the Interview

Effort-related:
- Effort in application form: Length and quality of the text the jobseeker wrote about themselves when applying for the job.

Strategy-related:
- Strategic information disclosure: declaring or omitting information on jobs and courses taken in the favela, inflating the duration of job experiences.
- Share of individuals misrepresenting their addresses when applying to the job (not an outcome per se, but an important descriptive statistic).


Outcomes in stage 3:
- Overall interview performance
- Nervousness as assessed by the interviewer and self-assessed
- Formality/professionalism, as assessed by the interviewer and self-assessed.

AMENDMENT (2023-06-22):

Outcomes for the information treatment:

First-stage belief change:
- Beliefs about our partner HR firm's callback rates for favela and non-favela neighborhoods (measured in stage 1)

Job application outcomes:
- Completing the job application form
- Show up for job interview
- Number of jobs applied for in the last two weeks (measured in endline survey)

Effort-related:
- Effort in application form: Length and quality of the text the jobseeker wrote about themselves when applying for the job.

Strategy-related:
- Share of individuals misrepresenting their addresses when applying to the job

Stage 2:
- Clicking the job application form.
- Perceptions about the job-search process and interactions with firms after the stage-2 treatment (collected in phone survey, see below)

Stage 3:
- Self-assessed interview performance
- Specific behaviors during interview, that could signal stress or discomfort
- Information disclosure during interview
- Question-wise performance in interview
- Interviewee’s perceptions about the interviewer (professionalism, preparedness) and HR firm (inclusiveness).


AMENDMENT (2023-06-22):

Outcomes for the information treatment:

- Beliefs about the odds of facing discrimination on the job in the future (measured in stage 1)
- Predicted employment and wage gap for someone like the respondent (stage 1)
- Callback probability for own job applications (measured in stage 1)
- Beliefs about job market prospects and address based discrimination (measured in endline survey, Likert scale)
- Sentiments regarding job search (e.g., how excited the jobseeker is, how fair they think the job market is, how much they feel like one has to ignore concerns regarding discrimination in the job market, etc, measured in stage 1)

- Intentions to search more intensively (measured in stage 1)

We will conduct a quality-check + brief survey over the phone with those participating in stage 2, about ten days after they receive the job invite message. This will try to confirm information provided during the door-to-door survey (to assure participation requirements are being enforced), and will also briefly ask about how the jobseeker’s search has progressed.

The design is mainly explained together with the intervention description.

For stage-2 treatments, stage 1 respondents are randomized into one of the three treatment groups with equal probability. We will stratify the randomization by predicted discrimination.

For stage 3, those who completed the job application form are randomized into the two treatments with equal probability. We will stratify the randomization by predicted discrimination and stage-2 treatment status.

AMENDMENT (2023-06-22): The information treatment is randomized with equal probability, without stratification.

Randomization done by a computer. Randomization will proceed in batches every few days, since all stages overlap.

AMENDMENT (2023-06-22): The information treatment is randomized directly in the offline Qualtrics form, on the spot.

Individual

No

2500 participants

AMENDMENT (2023-06-22): given the current budget and timeline, we project to have up to N=2100 by August. That means up to about N=700 for the information treatment experiment.

2500 participants AMENDMENT (2023-06-22): given the current budget and timeline, we project to have up to N=2100 by August. That means up to about N=700 for the information treatment experiment.

Stage 2: 833 participants in each arm.
Stage 3: 350 interviewees in each arm, assuming a 35% application rate and 85% interview show-up rate.

Sample sizes are target values and are subject to budget constraints.

AMENDMENT (2023-06-22): Information treatment should have up to about 233 (700/3) observations per arm.

MDEs for 80% of power at 5% size. Pairwise comparisons of main stage-2 outcomes: - about 6pp (18%), with covariate adjustment (gauged from pilot), for application and show-up rate - 0.14 standard deviation for effort measure Address Omission vs. other arms pooled: - 5.4pp for application and show-up rate - 0.12 standard deviation for effort measure Effort measures: 0-10 subjective scale outcomes in stage 3: 0.2 standard deviations