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2009 U. Chi. Legal F. 317 (2009)
Employment Discrimination and the Changing Landscape of Low-Wage Labor Markets

handle is hein.journals/uchclf2009 and id is 325 raw text is: Employment Discrimination and the Changing Landscape of Low-Wage Labor Markets Devah Pager,t Bruce Western,tt and David Pedullattt* ABSTRACT A large body of theoretical and empirical research would lead us to predict a steady decline in discrimination, but several features of contemporary low-wage labor markets may function to sustain or renew racialized decision-making. Shifts in the composition of both low-wage jobs and workers have potentially created new incentives and opportunities for employers to enact racial preferences in the selection of workers. In Part I of this Article, we review key recent trends in low-wage labor markets, including both demand-side shifts (for example, changing indus- trial composition, shifts in employment relations, and declining government enforcement) and supply-side changes (for example, increases in immigration, female labor force participation, and increasing numbers of young men with criminal records). In Part II, we then present empirical evidence from a large-scale field experiment of hiring discrimination conducted in New York City. Results from this study point to the salience of subjective criteria in the screening of low-wage workers, leaving room for bias to creep into the selection process. Finally, in Part III, we consider t Associate Professor of Sociology and Faculty Associate of the Office of Population Research, Princeton University. tt Professor of Sociology and Director of the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. tt Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, Princeton University. * This Article was prepared for The University of Chicago Legal Forum Symposium on Civil Rights and the Low-Wage Worker. Parts of the empirical work presented in this Article were drawn from Devah Pager, Bruce Western, and Bart Bonikowski, Discrimina- tion in a Low Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment (forthcoming Am Sociological Rev 2009). This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice.

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