Ethnic discrimination in hiring: comparing groups across contexts. Results from a cross-national field experiment

Existing field experimental research unequivocally shows the existence of ethnic discrimination in the labour market. Furthermore, studies have documented considerable variation in discrimination rates across countries. However, while the field of discrimination research is rapidly expanding, there are at present no harmonised comparative studies. This is unfortunate, as we do not know why there are cross-national differences in discrimination. In this paper, I present the GEMM study (N = 19,181), a harmonised cross-national field experiment on hiring discrimination. The GEMM study contains 53 ethnic minority groups and is carried out in six countries: Germany, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. Furthermore, I discuss the need and potential for a comparative analysis of discrimination and outline the methodological challenges of carrying out a cross-national field experiment. The special issue presents results for the major ethnic minority groups in six countries and compares discrimination rates across national contexts.