The authors investigate potential discrimination against people with disabilities through a field experiment that sent job applications to 6,016 accounting positions for which the applicants’ disabilities are unlikely to affect productivity. One-third of the cover letters disclosed that the applicant had a spinal cord injury, one-third disclosed the presence of Asperger’s syndrome, and one-third did not mention disability. The disability applications received 26% fewer expressions of employer interest. This gap was concentrated among experienced applicants and small private companies that are not covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Tests suggest possible positive effects of the ADA, but not of state laws, in reducing the disability gap. Results indicate there may be substantial room for employer and policy initiatives to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
AcemogluDaronAngristJoshua. 2001. Consequences of employment protection? The case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy109(5): 915–57.
2.
AngristJoshuaPischkeJorn-Steffen. 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
3.
APA. 2012. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-V. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
4.
BaertStijn. 2016. Wage subsidies and hiring chances for the disabled: Some causal evidence. European Journal of Health Economics17(1): 71–86.
5.
BaertStijn. 2017. Hiring discrimination: An overview of (almost) all correspondence experiments since 2005. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10738. Bonn, Germany: Institute of Labor Economics.
6.
BaldwinMarjorie L.JohnsonWilliam G.2006. A critical review of studies of discrimination against workers with disabilities. In RodgersWilliam M. (Ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Discrimination, pp. 119–60. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
7.
BeegleKathleenStockWendy A.2003. The labor market effects of disability discrimination laws. Journal of Human Resources38(4): 806–59.
8.
BerkowitzMonroeO’LearyPaul K.KruseDouglas L.HarveyCarol. 1998. Spinal Cord Injury: An Analysis of Medical and Social Costs. New York: Demos Medical.
9.
BertrandMarianneMullainathanSendhil. 2004. Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review94(4): 991–1013.
10.
BlaserErikEglingtonLukeCarterAlice S.KaldyZsuzsa. 2014. Pupillometry reveals a mechanism for the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) advantage in visual tasks. Scientific Reports4: 4301.
11.
BoundJohnBurkhauserRichard V.1999. Economic analysis of transfer programs targeted on people with disabilities. In AshenfelterOrleyCardDavid (Eds.), Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3C, pp. 3417–528. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science/North-Holland.
12.
BruyereSusanne. 2000. Disability Employment Policies and Practices in Private and Federal Sector Organizations. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, Program on Employment and Disability.
13.
ButtonPatrick. 2017. Expanding employment discrimination protections for individuals with disabilities: Evidence from California. ILR Review. doi: 10.1177/0019793917716633.
14.
ChenSusanvan der KlaauwWilbert. 2008. The work disincentive effects of the disability insurance program in the 1990s. Journal of Econometrics142(2): 757–84.
15.
ColellaAdrienne. 2001. Coworker distributive fairness judgments of the workplace accommodation of employees with disabilities. Academy of Management Review26: 100–116.
16.
ColellaAdrienneDeNisiAngelo S.VarmaArup. 1998. The impact of ratee’s disability on performance judgments and choice as partner: The role of disability–job fit stereotypes and interdependence of rewards. Journal of Applied Psychology83(1): 102–11.
17.
CookGareth. 2012. The autism advantage. New York Times Magazine, November29.
18.
CowenTyler. 2011. An economic and rational choice approach to the autism spectrum and human neurodiversity. Working Paper in Economics No. 11-58. George Mason University.
19.
DavisCharlesFarrellRamonaOgilbySuzanne. 2010. Characteristics and Skills of the Forensic Accountant. New York: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Publications, FVS Section.
20.
DeLeireThomas. 2000. The wage and employment effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Human Resources35(4): 693–715.
21.
DeVivoMichael J.WhiteneckGale G.CharlesE. D.1995. The economic impact of spinal cord injury. In StoverSamuel L.DeLisaJoel A.WhiteneckGale G. (Eds.), Spinal Cord Injury: Clinical Outcomes from the Model Systems, pp. 234–71. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers.
22.
DixonKaren A.KruseDouglasVan HornCarl E.2003. Restricted Access: A Survey of Employers about People with Disabilities and Lowering Barriers to Work. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.
23.
DomzalChristineHoutenvilleAndrewSharmaRavi. 2008. Survey of employer perspectives on the employment of people with disabilities: Technical report. McLean, VA: Cherry Engineering Support Services Inc. (CESSI).
24.
DonohueJohn J.IIIAshley SteinMichaelGriffinChristopher L.Jr.BeckerSascha. 2011. Assessing post-ADA employment: Some econometric evidence and policy considerations. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies8(3): 477–503.
25.
FrenchEricSongJae. 2014. The effect of disability insurance receipt on labor supply. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy6(2): 291–337.
26.
GundersonMorleyHyattDouglas. 1996. Do injured workers pay for reasonable accommodation?Industrial and Labor Relations Review50(1): 92–104.
27.
HamermeshDanielBiddleJeff. 1994. Beauty and the labor market. American Economic Review84(5): 1174–94.
28.
HarrisonGlenn W.ListJohn A.2004. Field experiments. Journal of Economic Literature42(4): 1009–55.
29.
HeckmanJames J.1998. Detecting discrimination. Journal of Economic Perspectives12(2): 101–16.
30.
HollenbeckKevinKimmelJean. 2008. Differences in the returns to education for males by disability status and age of disability onset. Southern Economic Journal74(3): 707–24.
31.
HotchkissJulie L.2003. The Labor Market Experience of Workers with Disabilities: The ADA and Beyond. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
32.
HotchkissJulie L.2004. A closer look at the employment impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Human Resources39(4): 887–911.
33.
HoutenvilleAndrew J.BurkhauserRichard V.2004. Did the employment of people with disabilities decline in the 1990s, and was the ADA responsible?A replication and robustness check of Acemoglu and Angrist (2001)—Research brief. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, Employment and Disability Institute.
34.
HowlinPatricia. 2000. Outcome in adult life for more able individuals with autism or Asperger syndrome. Autism4(1): 63–83.
35.
HowlinPatriciaMawhoodLynn. 1996. An evaluation of a pilot two-year supported employment service for people with autism. London: National Autistic Society.
36.
ImbensGuidoKalyanaramanKarthik. 2012. Optimal bandwidth choice for the regression discontinuity estimator. Review of Economic Studies79(3): 933–59.
37.
JollsChristinePrescottJames J.2004. Disaggregating employment protection: The case of disability discrimination. NBER Working Paper No. 10740. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
38.
KaldyZsuzsaGisermanIvyCarterAlice S.BlaserErik. 2016. The mechanisms underlying the ASD advantage in visual search. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders46: 1513–27.
39.
KantorJeffreyShapirOffer MosheShtudinerZe’ev. 2015. Beauty is in the eye of the employer: Labor market discrimination of accountants. Accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2655407 (May27, 2017).
40.
KayeH. Stephen. 2010. The impact of the 2007–2009 recession on workers with disabilities. Monthly Labor Review133(10): 19–30.
41.
KayeH. StephenJansLita H.JonesErica C.2011. Why don’t employers hire and retain workers with disabilities?Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation21(4): 526–36.
42.
KruegerAlanKruseDouglas. 1995. Labor market effects of spinal cord injuries in the dawn of the computer age. NBER Working Paper No. 5302. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
43.
KruseDouglasSchurLisa. 2003. Employment of people with disabilities following the ADA. Industrial Relations42(1): 31–66.
44.
LauerEric A.HoutenvilleAndrew J.2017. Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2016. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability.
45.
LevittSteven D.ListJohn A.2009. Field experiments in economics: The past, the present, and the future. European Economic Review53(1): 1–18.
46.
LeeDavid S.LemieuxThomas. 2010. Regression discontinuity designs in economics. Journal of Economic Literature48(2): 281–355.
47.
Lengnick-HallMark L. (Ed.). 2007. Hidden Talent: How Leading Companies Hire, Retain, and Benefit from People with Disabilities. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
48.
MaestasNicoleMullenKathleen J.StrandAlexander J.2013. Does disability insurance receipt discourage work? Using examiner assignment to estimate causal effects of SSDI receipt. American Economic Review103(5): 1797–829.
49.
MartiMolly W.BlanckPeter. 2000. Attitudes, behavior, and the ADA. In BlanckPeer (Ed.), Employment, Disability, and the Americans with Disabilities Act: Issues in Law, Public Policy, and Research, pp. 356–84. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
50.
MashawJerry L.RenoVirginia P.BurkhauserRichard V.BerkowitzMonroe (Eds.). 1996. Disability, Work and Cash Benefits. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
51.
MawhoodLynnHowlinPatricia. 1999. The outcome of a supported employment scheme for high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome. Autism3(3): 229–54.
52.
McCraryJustin. 2008. Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test. Journal of Econometrics142(2): 698–714.
53.
McNeilJohn. 2001. Americans with Disabilities, 1997: Current Population Reports P70-73. Washington, DC: Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
54.
MilneElizabethDunnStephanie A.FreethMeganRosas-MartinezLuisa. 2013. Visual search performance is predicted by the degree to which selective attention to features modulates the ERP between 350 and 600ms. Neuropsychologia51(6): 1109–18.
55.
MuzzattiBarbara. 2008. Attitudes towards disability: Beliefs, emotive reactions, and behaviors by non-disabled persons. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia35(2): 313–36.
56.
NeumarkDavid. 2012. Detecting discrimination in audit and correspondence studies. Journal of Human Resources47(4): 1128–57.
57.
NeumarkDavid. 2016. Experimental research on labor market discrimination. NBER Working Paper No. 22022. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
58.
NeumarkDavidSongJoanneButtonPatrick. 2015. Does protecting older workers from discrimination make it harder to get hired? Evidence from disability discrimination laws. NBER Working Paper No. 21379. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
NowickiElizabeth A.SandiesonRobert. 2002. A meta-analysis of school-age children’s attitudes towards persons with physical or intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education49(3): 243–65.
61.
[OECD] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2010. Sickness, Disability, and Work: Breaking the Barriers. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
62.
RavaudJean-FrancoisMadiotBeatriceVilleIsabelle. 1992. Discrimination towards disabled people seeking employment. Social Science and Medicine35: 951–58.
63.
RenLily RunPaetzoldRamona L.ColellaAdrienne. 2008. A meta-analysis of experimental studies on the effects of disability on human resource judgments. Human Resource Management Review18: 191–203.
64.
SchurLisa A.2003. Barriers or opportunities? The causes of contingent and part-time work among people with disabilities. Industrial Relations42(4): 589–622.
65.
SchurLisaKruseDouglasBlanckPeter. 2005. Corporate culture and the employment of persons with disabilities. Behavioral Sciences and the Law23(1): 3–20.
66.
SchurLisaKruseDouglasBlanckPeter. 2013. People with Disabilities: Sidelined or Mainstreamed?Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
67.
SchurLisaKruseDouglasBlasiJosephBlanckPeter. 2009. Is disability disabling in all workplaces? Workplace disparities and corporate culture. Industrial Relations48(3): 381–410.
68.
SciorKatrina. 2011. Public awareness, attitudes and beliefs regarding intellectual disability: A systematic review. Research in Developmental Disabilities32(6): 2164–82.
69.
StapletonDavid C.BurkhauserRichard V. (Eds.). 2003. The Decline in Employment of People with Disabilities: A Policy Puzzle. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
70.
StoneDianna L.ColellaAdrienne. 1996. A model of factors affecting the treatment of disabled individuals in organizations. Academy of Management Review21(2): 352–401.
71.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2016. Persons with a disability: Labor force characteristics—2015. News Release. USDL-16-12 48, June21.
72.
WeberLauren. 2012. Your résumé vs. oblivion: Inundated companies resort to software to sift job applications for right skills. Wall Street Journal, January24.
73.
WesterholmRobert I.RadakLauraKeysChristopher B.HenryDavid B.2006. Stigma. In AlbrechtGary L.BickenbachJeromeMitchellDavid T.SchalickWalton O.SnyderSharon L. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Disability, pp. 1502–7. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
74.
WHO/World Bank. 2011. World Report on Disability. Geneva: World Health Organization and World Bank.
75.
WilliamsRichard. 2012. Using the margins command to estimate and interpret adjusted predictions and marginal effects. Stata Journal12(2): 308–31.
76.
YukerHarold E. (Ed.). 1988. Attitudes toward Persons with Disabilities. New York: Springer.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
