Gender Differences in Wage Assignment: The Role of Recruiters in a Vignette Experiment

Research on hiring discrimination often employs experimental designs to determine whether employers discriminate due to personal biases and prefer- ences against specific groups, or due to stereotypical views. Most methodologies rely on field experiments which are limited to the initial screening stage of the hiring process. As a result, they fail to provide insights into discrimination across the entire hiring process and its long-term impact on career advancement. By employing a Factorial Survey Experiment our research seeks to shed light on the mechanisms underlying discriminatory processes. Specifically, we examine how recruiters’ characteristics shape the wages they assign to candidates, with notable variations depending on age, education level, and gender. The findings will provide empirical evidence to inform policy interventions, promoting fairer recruitment practices and reducing biases in the Italian labor market.