Discrimination and Labor Market Outcomes: Theoretical Mechanisms and Existing Empirical Studies

This chapter presents the theoretical mechanisms underlying discrimination in the labor market and reviews the existing related empirical literature. In particular, this chapter focuses on the existing evidence on underinvestigated categories of individuals that might be discriminated against in the labor market. This chapter also shows some facts about the perception of discrimination in Europe, using the 2008 Eurobarometer data that covers most of the European countries. The evidence reveals, for example, that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is perceived as widespread by more than 50 percent of people, whereas this percentage is only slightly higher than 35 percent for gender.