Cited by 1,022Names, Identity, and Discrimination ResearchLabor market dynamics and wage inequalityUrban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 64 of the 68 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 5 of the 40 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Discrimination in a Low-Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment

Open access
Pager, Devah, Bonikowski, Bart, Western, Bruce·2009·American Sociological Review

Abstract

Decades of racial progress have led some researchers and policymakers to doubt that discrimination remains an important cause of economic inequality. To study contemporary discrimination, we conducted a field experiment in the low-wage labor market of New York City, recruiting white, black, and Latino job applicants who were matched on demographic characteristics and interpersonal skills. These applicants were given equivalent résumés and sent to apply in tandem for hundreds of entry-level jobs. Our results show that black applicants were half as likely as equally qualified whites to receive a callback or job offer. In fact, black and Latino applicants with clean backgrounds fared no better than white applicants just released from prison. Additional qualitative evidence from our applicants' experiences further illustrates the multiple points at which employment trajectories can be deflected by various forms of racial bias. These results point to the subtle yet systematic forms of discrimination that continue to shape employment opportunities for low-wage workers.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/000312240907400505

Cites

64 of 64 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

65 Own interpretation · 59 Own result · 25 Own method · 14 Sources not found · 11 No basis given · 9 No full text of the sources · 4 Supported · 3 Not checked yet · 1 Supported so far

Show all 90 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 41
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 73
101 of 101
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    A criminal record can serve as an extreme and authoritative signal of the problematic behaviors employers attribute to young black men.

    “we can view a criminal record as an extreme and authoritative signal of the kinds of problematic behaviors that employers ascribe to young black men”
1 of 1

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Citations

Cites

Show all 68 references

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Altonji Joseph G., 2001, Journal of Economics, 116, 313
  2. Ghosh Malay, 2000, Statistica Sinica, 10, 647
  3. Heckman James, 1993, Clear and Convincing Evidence: Measurement of Discrimination in America, 187
  4. Johnson William, 1998, Black-White Test Score Differences, 480
  5. Kirschenman Joleen, 1991, The Urban Underclass, 203
  6. Roscigno Vincent J., 2007, The New Black: Alternative Paradigms and Strategies for the 21st Century Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, 14, 131

Cited by

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Items 301–400 of 1,020

Metadata

Authors
Pager, D., Bonikowski, B., & Western, B.
Affiliations
  • Princeton University (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Pager, Devah
Venue
American Sociological Review
Published
2009-10
Volume
74
Issue
5
Pages
777-799
ISSN
  • 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-8271
OpenAlex
W2126179497
Cited by
1,022
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 44 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 75 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 87 · 2018: 75 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 63 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 45
FWCI
101.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD047879, K01HD053694)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
Keywords
racial discrimination, low-wage labor market, hiring discrimination, resume screening, callbacks, job offers, Black applicants, post-release recidivism, employment trajectories, New York City

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

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