{"title":"The migrant penalty in Latin America: Experimental evidence from job recruiters","authors":"Raissa Fabregas , Wladimir Zanoni","doi":"10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105393","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We conduct an experiment with human resources recruiters in Ecuador to investigate the extent to which Venezuelan migrants are penalized in the formal labor market, despite being from a population that shares cultural, historical, and linguistic characteristics with natives and has, on average, higher levels of education. Recruiters were tasked with evaluating pairs of candidate profiles for different jobs, proposing salaries for each, and making hiring recommendations. Candidate profiles were comparable in observable characteristics, with one candidate in each pair randomly designated as a Venezuelan migrant. We find robust evidence of a migrant penalty across all outcomes. Recruiters’ demographic characteristics, work experience, reasoning ability, and personality traits do not predict a preference for natives. Instead, there is suggestive evidence that the penalty is larger in jobs requiring greater local knowledge or public-facing interaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48436,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Economics","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105393"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Public Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004727272500091X","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We conduct an experiment with human resources recruiters in Ecuador to investigate the extent to which Venezuelan migrants are penalized in the formal labor market, despite being from a population that shares cultural, historical, and linguistic characteristics with natives and has, on average, higher levels of education. Recruiters were tasked with evaluating pairs of candidate profiles for different jobs, proposing salaries for each, and making hiring recommendations. Candidate profiles were comparable in observable characteristics, with one candidate in each pair randomly designated as a Venezuelan migrant. We find robust evidence of a migrant penalty across all outcomes. Recruiters’ demographic characteristics, work experience, reasoning ability, and personality traits do not predict a preference for natives. Instead, there is suggestive evidence that the penalty is larger in jobs requiring greater local knowledge or public-facing interaction.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Public Economics aims to promote original scientific research in the field of public economics, focusing on the utilization of contemporary economic theory and quantitative analysis methodologies. It serves as a platform for the international scholarly community to engage in discussions on public policy matters.