The Effects of the Disability Employment Quota on French Firms: Evidence from the OETH Program.

Last registered on August 04, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Effects of the Disability Employment Quota on French Firms: Evidence from the OETH Program.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019282
Initial registration date
July 31, 2026

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 04, 2026, 9:51 AM EDT

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

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Primary Investigator

Name
Ngoc-Thao NOET
Affiliation
University Gustave Eiffel
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yannick L'Horty
PI Affiliation
University Gustave Eiffel
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PI Name
Denis Anne
PI Affiliation
University Gustave Eiffel
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PI Name
Naomie Mahmoudi
PI Affiliation
Lyon 1 Université - ISFA
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2026-01-01
End date
2027-06-30
Keywords
Education, Health, Labor
Additional Keywords
Discrimination, OETH, Field experiment
JEL code(s)
C93, J14, J71, J08
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct a correspondence study of unsolicited job applications for apprenticeship contracts (contrats d'alternance) in France, targeting a representative sample of employers located in and around several major French metropolitan areas. Eligible firms are drawn from an administrative database obtained through a data-sharing agreement with DARES (Direction de l'Animation de la Recherche, des Études et des Statistiques, French Ministry of Labour), and stratified on standard firm characteristics to ensure balance across treatment groups. The primary outcome is the callback rate, i.e., a positive response from an employer via email, phone call, or text message.

Fictitious candidate profiles are constructed to vary along several dimensions relevant to hiring decisions, including candidate characteristics associated with disability status. Candidate identities are constructed using first and last names drawn from INSEE civil registry frequency data, to ensure realistic and representative fictitious applicants.

Applications are sent to each sampled employer following a randomized assignment protocol designed to ensure comparability across treatment and control conditions, with safeguards in place to limit the risk of detection by recruiters.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Anne, Denis et al. 2026. "The Effects of the Disability Employment Quota on French Firms: Evidence from the OETH Program. ." AEA RCT Registry. August 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19282-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Fictitious candidate profiles vary along dimensions relevant to hiring decisions in the context of apprenticeship recruitment, including characteristics associated with disability status. Each sampled employer receives two spontaneous applications from fictitious candidates, with random assignment of candidate characteristics designed to ensure comparability across conditions while limiting the risk of detection by recruiters.
Intervention Start Date
2026-06-01
Intervention End Date
2026-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome is whether a job applicant receives a positive response (callback) from an employer via email, phone call, or text message. We examine variation in the callback rate according to the candidate characteristic under study, as well as according to application and firm characteristics, including sending order, candidate script set, region, qualification level, occupational field, legal form of the recruiting firm, firm size, location, industry sector, and firm size bracket.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The callback rate, defined as the share of applications receiving a positive response from the employer. A response is coded as positive if the employer invites the candidate to an interview, requests additional information or documents with a view to pursuing the application or otherwise indicates interest in continuing the recruitment process. Responses are collected via a dedicated email account associated with each fictitious candidate profile and coded by research staff.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
In addition to the subgroup analyses of the callback rate, we will also examine response time, type of positive response, and qualitative content of the response.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
1.Response time is measured as the number of calendar days between application submission and the employer's response, among applications receiving a response.
2.Type of positive response is coded from employer replies as either an interview invitation (by type : email, phone call, or text message), or a request for additional information/documents, among applications coded as positive on the primary outcome.
3.Qualitative content of the response is coded from the text of employer replies, capturing elements such as number of words, questions asked, Phone number provide.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct the field experiment by sending resumes to apply to online job postings from different firms. We create resumes which are similar in all relevant dimensions (educational background, previous work experience, professional skills, etc.), except for the specific candidate characteristic under study.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Candidate profiles are assigned to employers using a computer-generated randomization procedure.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is the individual job application within each sampled firm.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No cluster
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 28,000 fictitious applications will be sent to a representative sample of over 14,000 employers, stratified by region, firm size, legal category, and sector, with balance tests conducted on these characteristics prior to the intervention.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each employer receives a matched pair of applications: one from the reference candidate profile (control) and one from a candidate profile featuring the characteristic under study (treatment), with treatment condition randomly assigned within each pair.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Power calculations rely on three empirical benchmarks drawn from prior correspondence studies. First, we use a baseline positive response rate of 13.26% for apprenticeship applications, based on Anne, Bagayoko, Chareyron & L'Horty (2024). Second, we use an alternative and more conservative baseline response rate of 4.5% for apprenticeship applications in a related occupational context, based on Anne, Challe, Chareyron, L'Horty & Noet (2025). Third, we use a hypothesized relative gap in success rates of 15.2% for candidates signaling a visual impairment, based on Challe, Chareyron, L'Horty, Du Parquet & Petit (2023), a correspondence study on housing access. Combined with the 13.26% baseline, the required combined sample size to detect this effect at 80% power (α = 0.05, two-sided) is 7,940 applications. Combined with the more conservative 4.5% baseline, the required combined sample size is 25,484 applications. Regardless of which baseline reference rate is used, the required combined sample size (7,940 to 25,484) remains well below our planned sample of 28,000 applications. We are therefore adequately powered to detect the expected effect under either scenario.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan