Do Large Employers Discriminate Less? An Exploration of Company Size Variation in Disability Discrimination Based on Data from two Field Experiments

Abstract

Recent field experiments have documented that discrimination constitutes a barrier to employment for people with disabilities. Less is known about how disability discrimination varies across contexts in the labor market. This study explores whether hiring discrimination based on a history of mental health problems and against wheelchair users varies with company size using data from two field experiments. The study provides mixed evidence suggesting that the negative effect of disclosing a history of mental health problems on employers' hiring decisions does not vary with company size, whereas discrimination against wheelchair users occurs less often in large companies.

Disability, Gender and Hiring Discrimination: A Field Experiment

“…People with disabilities constitute a large minority group in Sweden, estimated to be approximately 16-18 percent of people aged 16-64, which corresponds to 1 014 000-1 144 000 persons (Statistics Sweden 2021, 2022. Labor market disparities between people with and without disabilities in Sweden have decreased over the last decade but remain large.…”

“…Among disabled people, moreover, the employment rates of men and women (68 percent vs. 67 percent) converge. Whereas the disability penalty is relatively larger among men due to the higher employment rates of nondisabled men, disabled women experience greater employment disadvantages in terms of being more likely to be employed part time and to report that their disability reduces their ability to work (Statistics Sweden 2021, 2022.…”

“…In Sweden, firms with 10 employees or more must report and document their work with wage setting from a gender perspective, whereas firms with fewer than 10 employees do not. In addition to these differences in legal obligations and factors such as more formalized hiring procedures, large employers may be less likely to discriminate than smaller ones due to having HR departments that are educated in and oversee workplace diversity and equality management and policies (Bjørnshagen 2022, Ameri et al 2018, Banerjee, Reitz, and Oreopoulos 2018. However, as evident from Table 6b, when firms are separated according to the thresholds of 0-9 employees, 10-199 employees, and 200 employees or more, employers of all sizes discriminate; generally, the results indicate that gender equality legislation and HR departments do not limit the extent of discrimination based on disability and gender.…”

Breaking down Barriers: Exploring the Factors of Discrimination for the Disabilities in Workplace

“…Bielby and Reskin, are both mentioned in Bjrnshagen, respectively. In a similar vein, Bjrnshagen asserts that, even though few companies actively seek impaired candidates, larger firms are more likely to do so than smaller ones, and they also establish explicit policies and procedures to promote disability equality [8,9]. Small business hiring is more casual and flexible because owners often make snap decisions about new hires based on gut instinct and arbitrary judgment.…”

Unequal? Investigating Employers’ Recruitment Practice Towards Wheelchair Users

“…Previous research shows that employers from both large and public workplaces tend to have more positive attitudes towards people with disabilities and marginalised groups in general (Bjornshagen, 2022;Llorens et al, 2007;Villadsen & Wulff, 2018).…”