Economics of Discrimination

Suppose employers care about overall productivity Z, which is made up of two components, X and Y, such that Z=X+Y (and employers know this productivity function). Suppose there are two groups (male and female) whose average Zs are the same (i.e. Z_M = Z_F), but X_M < X_F and Y_M > Y_F (and again, employers know these population averages). (Averages are given by bold font.) Researchers decide to run a resume-based audit study where they randomize names based on gender (using typically male or female names) but hold constant Y. They provide no information on X.

Which of the following results would provide suggestive evidence of taste-based discrimination?

Group of answer choices
THE CALL-BACK RATE IS THE SAME FOR BOTH SEXES.
WE CAN’T USE DIFFERENCES IN CALL-BACK RATES TO FIND SUGGESTIVE EVIDENCE OF TASTE-BASED DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE THERE’S TOO MANY OTHER FACTORS THAT ARE DIFFERENT ACROSS THE RESUMES.

THE CALL-BACK RATE IS HIGHER FOR MEN THAN FOR WOMEN

THE CALL-BACK RATE IS HIGHER FOR WOMEN THAN FOR MEN

Suppose employers care about overall productivity Z, which is made up of two components, X and Y, such that Z=X+Y (and employers know this productivity function). Suppose there are two groups (male and female) whose average Zs are the same (i.e. Z_M = Z_F), but X_M < X_F and Y_M > Y_F (and again, employers know these population averages). (Averages are given by bold font.) Researchers decide to run a resume-based audit study where they randomize names based on gender (using typically male or female names) but hold constant Y. They provide no information on X.

Which of the following results would provide suggestive evidence of statistical discrimination?

THE CALL-BACK RATE IS THE SAME FOR BOTH SEXES.

THE CALL-BACK RATE IS HIGHER FOR MEN THAN FOR WOMEN.

WE CAN’T USE DIFFERENCES IN CALL-BACK RATES TO FIND EVIDENCE OF STATISTICAL DISCRIMINATION.

THE CALL-BACK RATE IS HIGHER FOR WOMEN THAN FOR MEN.

Suppose employers care about overall productivity Z, which is made up of two components, X and Y, such that Z=X+Y (and employers know this productivity function). Suppose there are two groups (male and female) whose average Zs are the same (i.e. Z_M = Z_F), but X_M < X_F and Y_M > Y_F (and again, employers know these population averages). (Averages are given by bold font.) Researchers decide to run a resume-based audit study where they randomize names based on gender (using typically male or female names) but hold constant Y. They provide no information on X.

Now suppose the researchers provide information on both X and Y on the resumes. Which of the following are accurate conclusions?

Group of answer choices
IF CALL-BACK RATES ARE DIFFERENT, THERE COULD BE STATISTICAL DISCRIMINATION, AS EMPLOYERS COULD BE MAKING PREDICTIONS ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY BASED ON DIFFERENCES ACROSS MEN AND WOMEN.
IF CALL-BACK RATES ARE DIFFERENT, THERE IS EVIDENCE OF TASTE-BASED DISCRIMINATION.

Suppose employers care about overall productivity Z, which is made up of two components, X and Y, such that Z=X+Y (and employers know this productivity function). Suppose there are two groups (male and female) whose average Zs are the same (i.e. Z_M = Z_F), but X_M < X_F and Y_M > Y_F (and again, employers know these population averages). (Averages are given by bold font.) Researchers decide to run a resume-based audit study where they randomize names based on gender (using typically male or female names) but hold constant Y. They provide no information on X. However, they provide information on A, which is positively correlated with X such that E[X | A] = bA + e, where e is unobserved noise (distributed normally and with the same variance for both sexes) and b is the signal for how A correlates with X. Note that b > 0 and b is the same for both men and women.

Which of the following are accurate conclusions?

Group of answer choices
IF CALL-BACK RATES ARE DIFFERENT, THERE COULD BE STATISTICAL DISCRIMINATION, AS EMPLOYERS COULD BE MAKING PREDICTIONS ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY BASED ON DIFFERENCES ACROSS MEN AND WOMEN.
IF CALL-BACK RATES ARE DIFFERENT, THERE IS EVIDENCE OF TASTE-BASED DISCRIMINATION.

WE CAN’T ANSWER THIS QUESTION BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW HOW THE AVERAGES OF A_F AND A_M COMPARE.

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