Unexplored Dimensions of Discrimination in Europe: Religion, Homosexuality and Physical Appearance

We study labor-market discrimination of individuals with “specific” characteristics in Europe. Differentiating between experimental and non-experimental studies, we first give an overview of the empirical literature on these issues, looking especially at homosexuals and obese people. We also expose the theoretical mechanisms that may explain why these individuals have adverse labor-market outcomes. Using different European datasets, we find that Asians and Jews are the most educated group, with high employment and participation rates, whereas, on the contrary, Muslims are the least educated with the lowest employment rate. We also find that both homosexuals and obese people tend to have a lower chance of finding a job than heterosexuals and non-overweight individuals. Finally, we conduct a field experiment in two Italian cities: Rome and Milan, by sending “fake” CVs to real ads. We find that there is a strong penalty for homosexuals, i.e. about 30% less chance to be called back compared to an heterosexual male and even more so if they are highly skilled. On the other hand, we find no penalty for homosexual females. We also find a beauty premium for females only but this premium is much lower when the “pretty” woman is skilled.