The purpose of this study is to investigate whether ethnic discrimination is present in the Russian labor market and whether it has a significant economic effect on the potential salaries of applicants.
Data were collected using a correspondence audit for four experimental male applicants with identical professional and personal characteristics while differing only in applicant name as a signal of applicants' ethnic background. Implied ethnicities include Russians, Armenians, Jews and North Caucasians. Résumés were sent out to 800 real unique vacancies on behalf of the experimental applicants with a geographic focus on the capital Moscow.
The results of the analysis suggest that there is a significant difference in treatment in both response rate and potential average salaries on ethnic grounds. Disadvantaged groups were found to be systematically pushed into jobs paying 15% less monthly wage.
The study investigates the existence of ethnic discrimination in the Russian labor market and furthermore economically quantifies the effects of discrimination.
