Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Trial:
The key outcome variable is the managers' belief about the performance of the older team member s_old.
We assume that the managers have distorted beliefs about the performance of the two age groups and therefore discriminate against older workers (even though this reduces their own payoff). In NoInfo, there can be no age discrimination because the age information is not available to the managers. Therefore, on average, the estimated proportion of s_old should be 50% (H1); in JointInfo, the managers have information that one of the two works is older, but they only know the joint distribution of the performance. So here, beliefs about F(X)_old and F(X)_young play a role and we hypothesize that on average s_old<50% is estimated (H2); finally, in SepInfo, false beliefs about age-related performance can be corrected. If s_old is still underestimated in relation to the old workers’ true average performance s*, it is pure taste-based discrimination, which is costly to the manager. Formally, we have
H1 (neutrality): s_old|NoInfo=0.5
H2 (belief-based discrimination): s_old|AgeInfo<0.5
H3 (taste-based discrimination): s_old|SepInfo<s*
With regard to the difference between AgeInfo and SepInfo, we expect that beliefs-based discrimination is stronger than taste-based discrimination.
H4 (belief- vs. taste-based discrimination): s_old|AgeInfo/0.5 < s_old|SepInfo/s*
At the within-subjects level, the observation over 10 rounds also tests whether the strength of discrimination or misbelief correlates with the level of overall performance, i.e., whether the older worker of stronger teams is systematically attributed an even smaller share of success. Formally, we expect
H5: d (s*-s_old)/dy>0.
Correlational Hypothesis:
We also hypothesize that bias against senior workers is more pronounced the younger the manager is. Formally, we expect that
H6: d(s*-s_old)/da<0, where a is the managers’ age.
2. Trial
The key outcome variable is the workers' performance in the Word Encryption Task s_old.
Hypotheses: We hypothesize that discrimination has a negative effect on the performance of older workers, with the discrimination effect being stronger for the unfair bonus and taste-based discrimination respectively.
H1 (bonus): s_old|C>s_old|U>s_old|F
H2 (info): s_old|C>s_old|A>s_old|S
H3 (interaction): s_old|FS<s_old|FA and s_old|US