VOL 94 NO. 4 BERTRAND AND MULLAINATHAN: RACE IN THE LABOR MARKET TABLE 1-MEAN CALLBACK RATES BY RACIAL SOUNDINGNESS OF NAMES Percent callback Percent callback for Percent difference African-American names Ratio All se 965 6.45 [243 (0000 Chicago 149 [1,352 Boste [1083 (00003) Females in administrative jobs 1,358】 [1,359 0.0003) Females in sales jobs [502] (0.3523) 575 (00513) different subsamples of sent resumes, the callback rates for applicants with American-sounding name(column 2), as well as the ratio(column 3)and ng the null hypothesis that the callback rates are equal across racial groups. employers rarely, if ever, contact applicants via name). We return to this issue in Section IV, ostal mail to set up interviews subsection B Finally, and this is an issue pervasive in both E. Weaknesses of the experiment our study and the pair-matching audit studies, ds represent only one channel for We have already highlighted the strengths of job search. As is well known from previous this experiment relative to previous audit stud- work, social networks are another common ies. We now discuss its weaknesses. First, our means through which people find jobs and one outcome measure is crude, even relative to the that clearly cannot be studied here. This omis- previous audit studies. Ultimately, one cares sion could qualitatively affect our results if about whether an applicant gets the job and African-Americans use social networks more or about the wage offered conditional on getting if employers who rely more on networ the job. Our procedure, however, simply mea entiate less by ra he search process has even moderate frictions, III. Results one would expect that reduced interview rates would translate into reduced job offers. How A. Is There a Racial Gap in Callback? ever, we are not able to translate our results into aps in hiring rates or gaps in earnings Table I tabulates average callback rates by Another weakness is that the resumes do not racial soundingness of names. Included in directly report race but instead suggest race brackets under each rate is the number of re- through personal names. This leads to various sumes sent in that cell. Row I presents our chosen to make race salient, some employers may simply not notice the names or not recog nize their racial content. On a related note 28 As Appendix Table Al indicates, the African because we are not assigning race but only American names we use are, however, quite common race-specific names, our results are not repre- aman g Africah-Amenicans deng this ae s on COncem. sentative of the average African-American ay rely less on social networks for their job search( Harry who may not have such a racially distinct J. Holzer, 1987)VOL. 94 NO. 4 BERTRAND AND MULUINATHAN: RACE IN THE LABOR MARKET 997 Percent callback Percent callback for Percent difference for White names African-American names Ratio (D-value) Sample: All sent resumes Chicago Boston Females Females in administrative jobs Females in sales jobs Males Notes: The table reports, for the entire sample and different subsamples of sent resumes, the callback rates for applicants with a White-sounding name (column 1) an an African-American-sounding name (column 2), as well as the ratio (column 3) and difference (column 4) of these callback rates. In brackets in each cell is the number of resumes sent in that cell. Column 4 also reports the p-value for a test of proportion testing the null hypothesis that the callback rates are equal across racial groups. employers rarely, if ever, contact applicants via postal mail to set up interviews. E. Weaknesses of the Experimen~ We have already highlighted the strengths of this experiment relative to previous audit stud￾ies. We now discuss its weaknesses. First, our outcome measure is crude, even relative to the previous audit studies. Ultimately, one cares about whether an applicant gets the job and about the wage offered conditional on getting the job. Our procedure, however, simply mea￾sures callbacks for interviews. To the extent that the search process has even moderate frictions, one would expect that reduced interview rates would translate into reduced job offers. How￾ever, we are not able to translate our results into gaps in hiring rates or gaps in earnings. Another weakness is that the resumes do not directly report race but instead suggest race through personal names. This leads to various sources of concern. First, while the names are chosen to make race salient, some employers may simply not notice the names or not recog￾nize their racial content. On a related note, because we are not assigning race but only race-specific names, our results are not repre￾sentative of the average African-American (who may not have such a racially distinct name).28 We return to this issue in Section IV, subsection B. Finally, and this is an issue pervasive in both our study and the pair-matching audit studies, newspaper ads represent only one channel for job search. As is well known from previous work, social networks are another common means through which people find jobs and one that clearly cannot be studied here. This omis￾sion could qualitatively affect our results if African-Americans use social networks more or if employers who rely more on networks differ￾entiate less by race.29 111. Results A. Is There a Racial Gap in Callback? Table 1 tabulates average callback rates by racial soundingness of names. Included in brackets under each rate is the number of re￾sumes sent in that cell. Row 1 presents our results for the full data set. Resumes with White As Appendix Table A1 indicates, the African￾American names we use are, however, quite common among African-Americans, making this less of a concern. 29 In fact, there is some evidence that African-Americans may rely less on social networks for their job search (Hany J. Holzer, 1987)