Does Good Performance Reduce Bad Behavior? Antecedents of Ethnic Employment Discrimination in Public Organizations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10396242
AutoresThorbjørn Sejr Guul (0000-0003-2355-2580, Aarhus University), Anders Ryom Villadsen (0000-0001-9935-6151, Aarhus University, autor de correspondencia), Jesper Wulff (0000-0002-7976-0939, Aarhus University), Jesper N Wulff (Aarhus University)
Año2019
Volumen79
Número5
Páginas666-674
Fecha de publicación2019-07-31
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/puar.13094
OpenAlexW2966339713
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas55

Equal treatment is a key feature of modern bureaucracy. However, several studies have shown that public organizations discriminate against ethnic and racial minorities to different degrees. Which organizational features explain differences in discrimination is largely unknown. This article proposes that organizational performance relates to an organization's likelihood of engaging in employment discrimination and argues that poor‐performing organizations tend to be less open to new ideas and that decision makers in such organizations are more prone to stereotyping behavior. The study combines a field experiment in which applications were sent to real job vacancies in 71 Danish public schools with administrative data on the schools. Bayesian analyses show that minority applicants generally faced discrimination but that they experienced a higher callback rate from better‐performing schools than from poorer‐performing schools. Implications for practice and research are discussed

Business · Demographic economics · Economics · Ethnic discrimination · Ethnic group · Political science · Discrimination and Equality Law · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Law · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Psychology · Social Psychology