Race Discrimination in Job Search.

Last registered on May 21, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Race Discrimination in Job Search.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011890
Initial registration date
August 03, 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
August 10, 2023, 1:22 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 21, 2026, 12:39 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Robert Mayo
Affiliation
Concordia College
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-09-01
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
Discrimination, Field Experiment, Labor.
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to determine if prospective job applicants discriminate in their choice of whether to apply for jobs based on the perceived race of the employer.

We will partner with a black owned company to place an employment ad for for an administrative assistant position. The advertisement will include instructions to email a company contact for more details on the position and application instructions. After an applicant is hired, a demographic survey will be sent to everyone who requested more information.

Respondents will be randomized to receipt of more job details including either:

[VERSION 1] "Thank you for your interest in a position with [COMPANY]."
[VERSION 2] "Thank you for your interest in a position with [COMPANY], a Black owned company."

The outcome measured will be the proportion of people who applied for the position after receiving more information in each treatment, broken down by the race of the prospective applicant.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Mayo, Robert. 2026. "Race Discrimination in Job Search.." AEA RCT Registry. May 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11890-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We partnered with a Black-owned small business (Moorhead Apparel) to place a national online employment advertisement for a remote temporary administrative assistant position. Interested job seekers were instructed to email [email protected] for more information. Upon receipt of each inquiry email, an automated system randomly assigned the inquirer to one of two treatment conditions (50/50) and sent the corresponding job description. The only difference between conditions is the inclusion or exclusion of the phrase "a Black owned company" in the opening sentence of the job description. To formally apply, inquirers must complete and return an attached employment questionnaire.A pilot wave was conducted under a Concordia College IRB in 2023 (n=778; 389 treatment, 389 control). This registration is updated to reflect a replication wave conducted under a North Dakota State University IRB exempt determination. Both waves are included in the combined analysis.
Intervention Start Date
2023-09-01
Intervention End Date
2026-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome is the binary application decision — whether an inquirer subsequently completed and returned the employment questionnaire — compared across treatment arms for all inquirers regardless of race identification status. The primary test is a two-sided Fisher's exact test at α=0.05.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
An inquirer is defined as any individual who emailed [email protected] in response to the job advertisement. An applicant is defined as any inquirer who subsequently completed and returned the employment questionnaire. The primary analysis tests whether application rates differ between treatment and control arms across all inquirers.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Exploratory analysis of treatment effect heterogeneity by race. Specifically, whether application rates differ between treatment and control arms within racial subgroups (Black or African American; White, non-Hispanic).
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Race is determined by searching social media profiles using name and resume information following Leibbrandt and List (2018). Two independent identification passes are conducted. Inquirers classified as Not Found are excluded from the race-stratified analysis. Given approximately 48.5% coverage in the pilot, bounding analysis will be reported as a robustness check.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Natural field experiment. A real job advertisement for a remote temporary administrative assistant position was posted nationally on Indeed.com on behalf of Moorhead Apparel, a Black-owned small business. Interested job seekers emailed [email protected] to request more information. An automated system randomized each inquirer to treatment or control (50/50) and sent the corresponding job description. The treatment job description included the phrase "a Black owned company" in the opening sentence; the control version was otherwise identical without this phrase. To apply, inquirers completed and returned an attached employment questionnaire.
This study pools two data collection waves: a pilot wave conducted at Concordia College (2023, n=778) and a replication wave conducted at North Dakota State University (2025-2026). Pilot results are disclosed in full in the hidden fields of this registration prior to commencement of the NDSU wave.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Automated 50/50 randomization via Google Apps Script using JavaScript's Math.random() function, triggered upon receipt of each inquiry email. Each inquirer is independently randomized.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,621 total inquirers across both waves (778 from Concordia pilot wave already collected; 843 additional inquirers targeted from NDSU replication wave).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Approximately 811 treatment, 811 control (combined across both waves, 50/50 randomization).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Based on pilot wave overall treatment effect (application rate 53.5% treatment vs. 58.4% control, Cohen's h=0.098). Required n=1,621 total for 80% power at α=0.05 two-sided. Pilot wave contributes 778 observations; NDSU wave targets 843 additional observations.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Concordia College IRB Dept. Chair Review.
IRB Approval Date
2023-01-04
IRB Approval Number
N/A
IRB Name
North Dakota State University
IRB Approval Date
2026-04-13
IRB Approval Number
Protocol #IRB0005864
Analysis Plan