Study: Do Some Countries Discriminate More than Others? Evidence from 97 Field Experiments of Racial Discrimination in Hiring

Sociology Professor Lincoln Quillian conducted a study on racial discrimination of labor markets in various countries. In the nine countries Quillian and his colleagues examined, they found evidence of hiring discrimination against non-white populations. The study, published in the journal Sociological Science (June 17, 2020), found that some countries were much more discriminatory than others, likely due to laws and institutional practices.

Professor Lincoln Quillian

Quillian and his team researched upwards of 200,000 job applications across the following nine countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. They determined the percent of racial discrimination based on how many interview callbacks a white native received in comparison to their non-white counterparts. This study found that France and Sweden had the highest levels of hiring discrimination, whereas the United States was relatively low on the list. Quillian says this is partially due to the regulation the United States has over large companies.

“No other countries require monitoring of the racial and ethnic makeup of ranks of employees as is required for large employers in the U.S.,” said Professor Lincoln Quillian. “For instance, large employers in the U.S. are required to report race and ethnicity of employees at different ranks to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”

Learn more about this study in the IPR article, “Do Some Countries Discriminate More Than Others?”