Too old to work? A field experiment on age discrimination in the Spanish labor market

Last registered on January 19, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Too old to work? A field experiment on age discrimination in the Spanish labor market
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012639
Initial registration date
January 16, 2024

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
January 19, 2024, 2:16 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Spain
Region
Madrid
Country
Spain
Region
Bilbao
Country
Spain
Region
Barcelona

Primary Investigator

Name
Odra Quesada
Affiliation
University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-05-19
End date
2022-11-08
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
Discrimination, Field experiment, Hiring
JEL code(s)
C93, J14, J63, J71
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
With the aging of the baby boom generation and its increasing retirement rates, policymakers are facing demographic pressures that may require them to promote the employment of older workers. In this paper, we conduct a correspondence experiment with more than 1,700 job applications to address age discrimination in the Spanish labor market. We investigate how age influences two stages of the hiring process: attention to the CV and the selection decision.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Quesada, Odra. 2024. "Too old to work? A field experiment on age discrimination in the Spanish labor market." AEA RCT Registry. January 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12639-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention consists of the manipulation of information about age in applicant profiles on the job-search platform used in our experiment.
Intervention Start Date
2022-05-19
Intervention End Date
2022-11-08

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Callback
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Opening applicant's resume
Number of times
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
For each suitable job vacancy, we randomly selected two CVs and sent them in random order to employers, with a one-day interval between submissions. The random assignment process ensured that i) each employer received a resume from an older and a younger worker and ii) both applicants shared the same gender.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by simple computer randomization.
Randomization Unit
Sex (woman, man), age (35,49), signal of productivity (yes, no), unemployed (yes,no)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1800
Sample size: planned number of observations
1800
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
900
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
November 08, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
November 08, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
816
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1632
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
816 online profiles aged 35 years old and 816 online profiles aged 49 years old
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
With the aging population, policymakers confront demographic pressures to increase the engagement of older workers in the labor market. This paper examines the prevalence of age discrimination in the Spanish labor market. We design and perform a resume cor- respondence experiment involving over 1,600 job applications for low- and high-skilled positions. To understand the nature of discrimination, we examine two crucial phases of the hiring process: the inspection of resumes and the likelihood of receiving a job interview. We find that employers exhibit 10% lower willingness to open resumes from older candidates in lower-skilled positions. Moreover, older applicants are around 50% less likely to receive an interview invitation compared to their younger counterparts. Despite additional tests, we cannot confirm whether differential treatment stems from taste-based or statistical discrimination.
Citation
Quesada, O. & Martinez de Lafuente, D. (2024). Too old to work? A field experiment on age discrimination in the Spanish labor market. (ISEAK Working Paper No. 1/2024). https://iseak.eu/publicacion/too-old-to-work-a-field-experiment-on-age-discrimination-in-the-spanish-labor-market
URL
https://iseak.eu/publicacion/too-old-to-work-a-field-experiment-on-age-discrimination-in-the-spanish-labor-market

Reports & Other Materials