学历的信号机制:来自简历投递实验的证据

Market Signaling of Educational Background:Evidence from a Field Experiment

劳动力市场中存在着各种类型的身份歧视,求职者是否会因为大学本科第一学历差异而受到招聘方的歧视对待?这在中国当前的劳动力市场中是一个存在争论的问题。目前鲜有直接的证据表明第一学历歧视系统地存在于招聘过程中,也缺乏对此类歧视背后原因的研究。本文通过发送简历的通讯实验,研究了硕士学历毕业生是否因其不同的第一学历而受到招聘方歧视对待的问题。实验结果显示:硕士学历毕业生中,第一学历为非“211工程”院校本科的,比第一学历为“211工程”大学本科的,在初次就业中会收到显著更低的简历回复(低41%);实习经历、校内表现和资格证书等简历信息质量的提高,可以显著提高简历回复率,同时减少第一学历歧视;社会招聘中,求职者没有受到显著的歧视对待。从而,第一学历歧视很可能包含统计性歧视成分,即信号机制的作用。

Since 1999,the Chinese government has implemented a policy of large-scale expansion in the field of higher education.The number of undergraduate enrollments in China has increased from 653,100 per year in 1998 to 4,108,100 per year in 2017.Over the same period,the number of graduate students enrolled in China rose from 57,500 to 722,200.It usually takes two years to obtain a Master's degree.However,in China,Master's degree candidates usually use the second year on campus to find a job.Since May 1998,the Chinese government has launched the 985 Project,211 Project,and other financial support projects to promote the development of world-leading universities.The 985 Project selected 39 universities and the 211 Project selected 112 universities(the 39 universities in the 985 Project were included in the 211 Project).These universities account for 1.3%and 3.8%of all Chinese universities(almost all of which are public universities),respectively.211 Project universities receive far more financial support from the government than other universities.This financial support has led to a rapid improvement in the average level of these universities and widened the gap between them and the other universities.Graduates of 211 Project universities have special status,and they receive exceptional treatment.Because the college entrance examination is the most common way for Chinese people to advance professionally,this status may accompany them for life.Therefore,even if undergraduate graduates of non-211 Project universities are admitted to 211 Project universities to study for a Master's degree,they may still be discriminated against by employers when job hunting after graduation.Empirical studies have provided little robust evidence of the existence of such first-degree(i.e.Bachelor's degree)discrimination and have not begun to explore the reasons.Following the method used by Bertrand&Mullainathan(2004),we designed a field experiment for resume delivery.In the experiment,we sent a large number of resumes of Master's graduates who graduated from 211 Project schools to a recruiter.By comparing the interview notices received by those with non-211 undergraduate degrees and those with 211 undergraduate degrees,we looked for evidence of first-degree discrimination.The results of the experiment showed that for initial employment,the response rate for CVs from graduates with first degrees from non-211 Project universities was 41%lower than that for graduates with first degrees from 211 Project universities.Better internship experiences,school performances,and qualification certificates increased reply rates significantly and decreased first-degree discrimination.No significant first-degree discrimination was found in social recruitment.Therefore,there may be statistical discrimination based on the first degree in the hiring process.This paper makes two core contributions.First,it is the first paper to use field experiments to study first-degree discrimination.By controlling personal characteristics such as job applicants'abilities,we obtained robust evidence of the existence of first-degree discrimination.Second,this paper found through field experiments that first-degree discrimination involves statistical discrimination motives.That is,the first degree is to a certain extent a quality signal under asymmetric information,which employers use in estimating the expected productivity levels of different job-hunting groups.This article provides sufficient evidence to prove the existence of first-degree discrimination in campus recruitment.Based on this discovery,we believe that the government and the news media should no longer promote projects like the 211 Project,as they lead to identity discrimination in job markets and ultimately decrease the economic efficiency of labor markets.