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Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, or sexual orientation, as well as other categories. Discrimination especially occurs when individuals or groups are unfairly treated in a way which is worse than other people are treated, on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in certain groups or social categories. It involves restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group.
Labour economics, or labor economics, seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding firms. Because these labourers exist as parts of a social, institutional, or political system, labour economics must also account for social, cultural and political variables.
Affirmative action refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to include particular groups based on their gender, race, sexuality, creed or nationality in areas in which they are underrepresented, such as education and employment. Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve goals such as bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, promoting diversity, and redressing apparent past wrongs, harms, or hindrances.
Gary Stanley Becker was an American economist who received the 1992 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago, and was a leader of the third generation of the Chicago school of economics.
Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain group. Governments can discriminate in a de facto fashion or explicitly in law, for example through policies of racial segregation, disparate enforcement of laws, or disproportionate allocation of resources. Some jurisdictions have anti-discrimination laws which prohibit the government or individuals from discriminating based on race in various circumstances. Some institutions and laws use affirmative action to attempt to overcome or compensate for the effects of racial discrimination. In some cases, this is simply enhanced recruitment of members of underrepresented groups; in other cases, there are firm racial quotas. Opponents of strong remedies like quotas characterize them as reverse discrimination, where members of a dominant or majority group are discriminated against.
In contract theory, signalling is the idea that one party credibly conveys some information about itself to another party.
Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, gender, sex, religion, national origin, and physical or mental disability. State and local laws often protect additional characteristics such as marital status, veteran status and caregiver/familial status. Earnings differentials or occupational differentiation—where differences in pay come from differences in qualifications or responsibilities—should not be confused with employment discrimination. Discrimination can be intended and involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group.
Screening in economics refers to a strategy of combating adverse selection – one of the potential decision-making complications in cases of asymmetric information – by the agent(s) with less information.
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and other short-term stays in a destination country do not fall under the definition of immigration or migration; seasonal labour immigration is sometimes included, however.
Equal employment opportunity is equal opportunity to attain or maintain employment in a company, organization, or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was established by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to assist in the protection of United States employees from discrimination. The law was the first federal law designed to protect most US employees from employment discrimination based on that employee's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Economic discrimination is discrimination based on economic factors. These factors can include job availability, wages, the prices and/or availability of goods and services, and the amount of capital investment funding available to minorities for business. This can include discrimination against workers, consumers, and minority-owned businesses.
Split labor market theory was proposed by sociologist Edna Bonacich in the early 1970s as an attempt to explain racial/ethnic tensions and labor market segmentation by race/ethnicity in terms of social structure and political power rather than individual-level prejudice. Bonacich argues that ethnic antagonism emerges from a split labor market, where two or more racially/ethnically distinct groups of workers vie for the same jobs, and where the total cost to the employer of hiring workers from one group is significantly lower than the cost of hiring from the other group. Employers prefer to hire cheaper workers and will do so absent active opposition from higher-priced workers, creating an antagonism between higher- and lower-priced groups. Differences in the price of labor are sociological and political in nature, not a matter of personal preference, so that, e.g., native, unionized workers, who enjoy full political rights will demand higher wages and be more likely to resist employer prerogatives than undocumented immigrant, non-union workers from poorer countries. According to Bonacich, likely outcomes of a split labor market include not only antagonism but, depending on the political power of higher-priced workers, a caste-like system where lower-priced workers are restricted to specific occupations, or total exclusion of the lower-priced group from the labor market.
The Rehn–Meidner model is an economic and wage policy model developed in 1951 by two economists at the research department of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO), Gösta Rehn and Rudolf Meidner. The four main goals to be achieved were:
Statistical discrimination is a theorized behavior in which racial or gender inequality results when economic agents have imperfect information about individuals they interact with. According to this theory, inequality may exist and persist between demographic groups even when economic agents are rational and non-prejudiced. It stands in contrast with taste-based discrimination which uses racism, sexism and the likes to explain different labour market outcomes of groups.
Labor discrimination as defined by Kenneth Arrow is “the valuation in the market place of personal characteristics of the worker that are unrelated to worker productivity”. It can be thus understood as the differentiation of workers based on characteristics such as color, race, origin, gender etc. that can be classified as factors that do not have a role in determining his or her productivity. There are multiple dimensions that need to be considered when discussing such discrimination. The most obvious is that the group discriminated against is paid less for identical jobs. This is known as wage discrimination and is the most prevalent form of discrimination. The attempt to combat such a form of discrimination can be seen in increasing equal pay legislation in different countries. Examples of this are the Equal Pay Act (1970), Sex Discrimination Act (1975), and Employment Protection Act (1975), but the effectiveness of such legislation is subject to much debate. Secondly, that the level of unemployment for the disadvantaged group in general is higher than that of other groups that do not face such discrimination. Thirdly, there is discrimination based on the kind of jobs that they have access to, the discriminated group given preference for repetitive and menial tasks. This is known as employment discrimination, where an individual is excluded from a job that is worked on by a person with equal productivity. When this happens, the disadvantaged group is employed for a job he or she is over-qualified for, simply because the group does not have access to better paying jobs in par to their counterparts and are denied opportunities of recruitment and promotion. A general misconception prevails that discrimination is only practiced by the employer. This is not true. In addition to employer discrimination, customer discrimination can also exist in the market. Customers may prefer to transact with only a certain kind of people.
In the United States, despite the efforts of equality proponents, income inequality persists among races and ethnicities. Asian Americans have the highest median income, followed by White Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans. A variety of explanations for these differences have been proposed—such as differing access to education, two parent home family structure, high school dropout rates and experience of discrimination and deep-seated and systemic anti-Black racism—and the topic is highly controversial.
Lookism is a term that describes the discriminatory treatment of people who are considered physically unattractive. It occurs in a variety of settings, including dating, social environments, and workplaces. Lookism has received less cultural attention than other forms of discrimination and typically does not have the legal protections that other forms often have, but it is still widespread and significantly affects people's opportunities in terms of romantic relationships, job opportunities, and other realms of life. The same concept from the opposite angle is sometimes named pretty privilege.
The maternal wall is a term referring to stereotypes and various forms of discrimination encountered by working mothers and mothers seeking employment. Women hit the maternal wall when they encounter workplace discrimination because of past, present, or future pregnancies or because they have taken one or more maternity leaves. Women may also be discriminated against when they opt for part-time or flexible work schedules. Maternal wall discrimination is not limited to childcare responsibilities. Both men and women with caregiving responsibilities, such as taking care of a sick parents or spouse, may also result in maternal wall discrimination. As such, maternal wall discrimination is also described as family responsibilities discrimination. Research suggests that the maternal wall is cemented by employer stereotypes and gender expectations.
Ban the Box is the name of an American campaign by advocates for ex-offenders aimed at removing the check box that asks if applicants have a criminal record from hiring applications. Its purpose is to enable ex-offenders to display their qualifications in the hiring process before being asked about their criminal records. The premise of the campaign is that anything that makes it harder for ex-offenders to find a job makes it likelier that they will reoffend, which is bad for society.
Networks in labor economics refers to the effect social networks have on jobseekers obtaining employment. Research suggests that around half of the employed workforce found their jobs through social contacts. It is believed that social networks not only contribute to the efficiency of job searching but can also explain, at least partly, wage differences and other inequalities in the workforce. Various models are used to quantify this effect, all having their own strengths and weaknesses. Models generally have to simplify the complex nature of social networks.
References
- ↑ Baert, Stijn; Pauw, Ann-Sophie De (2014). "Is ethnic discrimination due to distaste or statistics?". Economics Letters. 125 (2): 270–273. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2014.09.020. hdl: 1854/LU-5704419 . S2CID 154444808.
- ↑ Krueger, Alan B. (2002-12-12). "Economic Scene; Sticks and stones can break bones, but the wrong name can make a job hard to find". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-02-03.
- 1 2 Neilson, William; Ying, Shanshan (2016). "From taste-based to statistical discrimination". Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 129: 116–128. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2016.06.001.
- ↑ Autor, David (2003-11-24). "Lecture Note: The Economics of Discrimination — Theory".
- 1 2 "Discrimination, Taste For". International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008.
- ↑ Siddique, Zahra (2011). "Evidence on Caste Based Discrimination". Labour Economics. 18: S146–S159. doi:10.1016/j.labeco.2011.07.002.
- 1 2 3 Moser, Petra (2012). "Taste-based discrimination: evidence from a shift in ethnic preferences after WWI". Explorations in Economic History. 49 (2): 167–188. doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2011.12.003.
- ↑ Bryson, Alex; Chevalier, Arnaud (2014-08-15). "Is there a 'taste for discrimination'?". VoxEU.org. Retrieved 2018-02-03.