Yannick L'Horty

Are Young French Jobseekers of Ethnic Immigrant Origin Discriminated Against? A Controlled Experiment in the Paris Area

This study uses the findings of a correspondence testing in order to assess the potential discrimination at job access level against young people of ethnic origin from the underprivileged suburbs of the Paris area (Ile-de-France). We measure simultaneously the effects of place of residence (privileged or underprivileged city), of nationality (French or Moroccan), and of sound of surname and of forename on the chances of obtaining a job interview when answering a job ad. We base our assessment on a controlled experiment conducted on the profession of accountant. We constructed 16 jobseeker profiles and sent 1097 resumes in reply to 139 job vacancies advertised at the end of 2006. We find evidence of a significant discrimination.

Inflation, Minimum Wage and Other Wages: An Econometric Study on French Macroeconomic Data

This paper examines the set of interdependences between the formation of wages, prices and the minimum wage (SMIC) through a vectorial error correction model estimated on French quarterly macroeconomic data covering the 1970-1/1999-4 period. Two periods are distinguished: the period of inflation rise from 1970 to 1981, which coincides with an important squeeze of the wage range, measured by the ratio of the minimum wage to the hourly wage rate; the period of disinflation since 1981, that has been concomitant with a stability of wage inequalities. Disinflation has hardly benefited the evolution of the SMIC which has always profited by price rises, in real and relative terms, which have become less strong. This evolution doesn’t benefit any more of wage rises, when the interdependences between variables are taken into account. The SMIC seems however to have gained in efficiency as an instrument of wage disparity reduction. Its rises are finally more persistent in real terms and relatively to the other salaries and have always as little inflationary impact on wages as on prices.

New Evidence of Ethnic and Gender discriminations in the French Labor Market Using Experimental Data: A Ranking Extension of Responses from Correspondence Tests

We extend the standard hiring discrimination measure by including the cases where several candidates are invited to the same interview. The new measure considers the order in which the employer will contact the candidates as opposed to considering only whether or not a job applicant is invited to an interview - a practice common in the previous literature. We propose to apply the first order stochastic dominance (FOSD) criterion to the ranking of the candidates, which appears to be especially relevant for hiring discrimination. We show theoretically that FOSD always implies a positive value for the standard discrimination coefficient used in the literature, and that the converse is false. We apply our analysis to a correspondence testing that has been conducted in the Paris region. We sent 8 fictitious candidates with a Masters degree to the same 310 job offers in computing in order to measure gender and origin discrimination. We found that - out of 28 possible comparisons - there are 25 cases of stochastic dominance that we interpret as strong discrimination against some candidates. In our application, the standard discrimination coefficient tends to underestimate the degree of discrimination.We extend the standard hiring discrimination measure by including the cases where several candidates are invited to the same interview. The new measure considers the order in which the employer will contact the candidates as opposed to considering only whether or not a job applicant is invited to an interview - a practice common in the previous literature. We propose to apply the first order stochastic dominance (FOSD) criterion to the ranking of the candidates, which appears to be especially relevant for hiring discrimination. We show theoretically that FOSD always implies a positive value for the standard discrimination coefficient used in the literature, and that the converse is false. We apply our analysis to a correspondence test that has been conducted in the Paris region. We sent 8 fictitious candidates with a Masters degree to the same 310 job offers in computing in order to measure gender and origin discrimination. We found that - out of 28 possible comparisons - there are 25 cases of stochastic dominance that we interpret as strong discrimination against some candidates. Discrimination is especially strong for the French women with an African origin.

Counterproductive Hiring Discrimination Against Women: Evidence from a French Correspondence Test

Mentioning car and motorcycle licences on a resume sends a signal of strong mobility, which should increase the chances of getting a job in congested traffic areas. Yet we find that this signal can lead to a counterproductive selection of female candidates, since the highest commuting mobility meets the lowest hiring rate.

Labor Market Effects of Urban Riots:an experimental assessment

We propose to measure the effects of urban riots on the labour market prospects of workers residing in affected areas through the channel of labour market discrimination based on locality. We investigate the case of the French riots of 2007, which were very geographically concentrated. The town of Villiers-le-Bel is selected as the treatment unit because it received a uniquely high degree of unfavourable exposure in the media. Two other towns serve control groups: i) Sarcelles, which is contiguous to Villiers-le-Bel, has a similar socio-economic-demographic profile, and did experience some rioting activity, and ii) Enghien-les-Bains, which is considered to be economically advantaged and did not experience rioting activity. Using the technique of correspondence testing, we are able to discern disparities in call-back rates for fictitious candidates who respond to actual job postings over four dimensions: gender, ethnic origin, locality of residence (advantaged vs. disadvantaged), and the degree of media exposure during the riots. We implement an empirical approach to measure discrimination across several dimensions that integrates a set of relevant parameters into one unified system of equations. We decomposed the probability of receiving a callback for any candidate of given characteristics as a function of several parameters. We find statistically significant negative effects of a pure media exposure effect. All other factors held constant, people residing in the area which received negative publicity were 3.2 percentage points less likely to receive a callback. The group of workers who tend to be the most associated with the riots, i.e. men of North African origin (at least in terms of perceptions), are the least affected by potential discrimination by region of residence, while women of French origin are the most affected.

Incitations et transitions sur le marché du travail: Une analyse des stratégies d'acceptation et de refus d'emploi@@@Incitations et transitions sur le marche du travail: Une analyse des strategies d'acceptation et de refus d'emploi

L’objet de l’article est de proposer une methode permettant d’evaluer, dans un cadre intertemporel, l’ampleur des phenomenes de desincitation a la reprise d’emploi. Un chomeur accepte un emploi si ce dernier rend maximale son esperance de gains, compte tenu des revenus associes a chaque type de situation sur le marche du travail, de ses chances d’evolution d’une situation vers une autre et de son taux de preference pour le present. Dans ce cadre general, on montre qu’il peut etre « rentable » d’occuper un emploi qui rapporte un revenu inferieur aux revenus de remplacement dont on pourrait beneficier dans l’assistance. Inversement, on peut avoir interet a rester dans le non-emploi et a refuser des emplois immediatement remunerateurs. Ces resultats theoriques – illustres par des simulations numeriques – suggerent que les gains immediats ne sont pas les plus determinants dans la decision d’accepter ou non une proposition d’emploi.

Taxation of Savings in Europe : a multi-product comparison

[eng] The purpose of this study was to draw up an inventory of European taxation on income from savings products. The methodological difficulties were substantial : tax rules are very diverse from one country to another, and there is no standardised definition of savings products at an international level. Furthermore, in each and for each savings product, tax can vary in accordance with the characteristics of the individual, the household or the structure of their portfolio. The process of confronting these difficulties consisted of two consecutive stages : - in the first stage, all products of the savings type were defined and the tax rules in force for each product in each country studied ; - in the second stage, taxations were compared by calculating the effective marginal rates of levy for each category or product and in each country, based on a common methodology. JEL classifications : E21, E62, H20, H30, H87

La fiscalité de l'épargne en Europe: une comparaison multi-produits

[fre] Cet article propose une methode simple pour calculer les taux marginaux d’imposition effectifs (TMIE) associes aux revenus de l’epargne. La methode est appliquee a onze pays europeens et aux Etats-Unis sur sept familles de produits d’epargne pour les fiscalites en vigueur en 2001. On montre ainsi que les reformes des annees quatre-vingt-dix n’ont pas suffi a impulser une convergence des fiscalites nationales en Europe. Des differences importantes subsistent entre les pays pour des produits similaires et entre les produits pour un meme pays. L’usage de la progressivite des prelevements apparait egalement peu coherente au niveau europeen : des fiscalites progressives existent pour des produits differents dans des pays differents, que le niveau des impots y soit faible, moyen ou eleve. . Classification JEL : E21, E62, H20, H30, H87 [eng] Taxation of Savings in Europe . This article presents a comparison of taxation of savings between eleven European countries and United States. Authors explain that reforms don’t impulse European fiscal harmonisation. Differences still exist between countries for same savings and between savings for a unique country. . JEL classifications : E21, E62, H20, H30, H87