Sorting through Affirmative Action: Three Field Experiments in Colombia

Marcela Ibanez, Gerhard Riener
2018 Journal of Labor Economics  
Armative action to promote women's employment is a intensely debated policy. Do armative action policies attract women and does it come at a cost of deterring high qualied men? In three eld experiments in Colombia we compare characteristics of job-seekers who are told of the armative action selection criterion before they apply with those who are only told after applying. We nd that the gains in attracting female applicants far outweigh the losses in male applicants. Armative action is more
more » ... ive in areas with larger female discrimination and deters male job-seekers from areas with low discrimination. JEL code: J21, J24, J48, C93
doi:10.1086/694469 fatcat:k35f2z3f25gkpawfgrbzljutxq