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We use data from a cross-nationally harmonised field experiment to examine discrimination towards Muslim job applicants in five European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom). We focus on job applicants originating from countries that have a substantial Muslim population: of these, some signalled closeness to Islam in their job application while others did not. With this design, we can empirically disentangle anti-Muslim discrimination (a 'disclosed Muslim' effect) from the possible stigma of originating from countries where Islam is prevalent (a 'Muslim by default' effect). Our double-comparative design allows us to compare the extent of anti-Muslim discrimination faced by different origin groups in destination countries characterised by a varying history of church-state relations and distinctive approaches to grant cultural and religious rights to minorities. We find alarming levels of discrimination, especially towards male applicants from more visible groups. Anti-Muslim discrimination and origin-based discrimination independently contribute to the severe disadvantage faced by ethnic and religious minorities, a disadvantage that is especially severe in the Norwegian labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have found that the labour market outcomes of Turkish minorities are slightly better in Germany than in the Netherlands. In this paper we test one of the explanations: differences in ethnic discrimination in hiring. We use a harmonised field experiment to test whether discrimination against job candidates of Turkish origin (age 23–25) varies across Germany and the Netherlands, while holding individual characteristics of job seekers constant. We find that, compared to majority candidates, job candidates of Turkish origin are on average eleven percentage points less likely to receive a positive call-back. Moreover, we find that discrimination against Turkish minorities is significantly higher in the Netherlands than in Germany. In Germany, job candidates of Turkish origin are five percentage points less likely to receive a call-back than equally qualified majority candidates, whereas in the Netherlands this ethnic gap is fifteen percentage points. However, the presented evidence does not support the often-mentioned argument that the amount of diagnostic information in application materials explains why discrimination against Turkish minorities is lower in Germany. Overall, adding diagnostic information has little effect on the relative employment chances of job applicants of Turkish origin, both in Germany and the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing field experimental research unequivocally shows the existence of ethnic discrimination in the labour market. Furthermore, studies have documented considerable variation in discrimination rates across countries. However, while the field of discrimination research is rapidly expanding, there are at present no harmonised comparative studies. This is unfortunate, as we do not know why there are cross-national differences in discrimination. In this paper, I present the GEMM study (N = 19,181), a harmonised cross-national field experiment on hiring discrimination. The GEMM study contains 53 ethnic minority groups and is carried out in six countries: Germany, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. Furthermore, I discuss the need and potential for a comparative analysis of discrimination and outline the methodological challenges of carrying out a cross-national field experiment. The special issue presents results for the major ethnic minority groups in six countries and compares discrimination rates across national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore how the neighborhood composition and individual choice relate to the network composition of different social groups. We predict that groups that engage more with the neighborhood, and those who control more resources have networks that are more homogenous than expected given the neighborhood composition. We also explore how two types of biased association (i.e., attraction to similarity and rejection of dissimilarity) vary by neighborhood composition. Analyzing neighborhood register data and the Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch (2014), we find that networks of neighbors vary in their degree of homogeneity depending on the social group. Both groups that control more resources, and those who engaged more with the neighborhood had networks that were more homogeneous than expected given the neighborhood composition. Individual choice (i.e., attraction to similarity and rejection of dissimilarity) varied depending on both the neighborhood composition and group membership. Our findings show that neighborhood mixing with the aim to create intergroup ties might be effective for certain groups (i.e., middle aged, married), but it might backfire for others (i.e., retired individuals). Urban policies might be more effective when tailored to the needs of different social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses differences in rural and urban origin in visits from natives and the occurrence of interethnic marriages of Turkish immigrants in six European countries. We argue that values and human capital explain the relationship between rural-urban origin and contact with natives. The value-based hypothesis stipulates that differences in contact with natives are due to values and predispositions that correlate with people's rural and urban origin. The human capital hypothesis predicts that variation between rural and urban origin can be ascribed to differences in human capital accumulation. Using the Six Country Immigrant Incorporation Comparative Survey (SCIICS), the results show that Turkish immigrants with a rural origin have fewer visits from natives and are less likely to intermarry. Furthermore, educational attainment, destination country language proficiency, religious identification and identification with the origin culture explain a substantial part of the rural origin effect. However, also when accounting for values and human capital, we find a significant direct effect of rural origin, suggesting that rural and urban immigrants build social relations differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there are many studies that examine the consequences of increasing income inequality, its effects on gambling behavior have not yet been studied. In this article, we argue that income inequality increases the average expenditure on gambling. Using longitudinal state-level data for the United States (1980–1997), we estimate fixed-effects models to analyze two types of gambling expenditure: pari-mutuel betting and lottery spending. Our findings show a positive effect of increasing income inequality on lottery expenditure. For pari-mutuel betting, the result is not linear, as for higher levels of income inequality, the positive effect decreases, suggesting that the effect flattens out when the increase in income inequality is highest. We argue that there are three reasons why we find a positive effect of income inequality of gambling expenditure: increasing mobility aspirations, availability of resources in the upper part of the distribution, and status anxiety in the lower part of the distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using longitudinal data, this paper analyses the effect of different forms of social capital on the likelihood of employment and the occupational status of first generation immigrant men in Germany. This allows me to examine to what extent social capital of the bonding and the bridging types yield different returns. The study considers how contacts with natives, co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital are beneficial to the economic position of immigrant men. Random effects and fixed effects models show that strong inter-ethnic ties are beneficial both for employment and occupational status. There is no effect of co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital. It is concluded that, when using panel data, bridging social capital contributes to a better economic position and bonding social capital does not. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Several studies conclude that ethnic diversity tends to reduce social capital. There may, however, be other forms of diversity that also affect social capital, and their inclusion might make the negative effect of ethnic diversity spurious. Besides ethnic diversity, we identify economic and religious diversity, as well as language proficiency in the neighbourhood. This study explores data from the Netherlands showing how these four dimensions of diversity in the neighbourhood affect the quality of contact with neighbours, trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust for immigrant and native residents. We find that ethnic diversity in the neighbourhood still lowers the quality of contact with neighbours. For natives, ethnic diversity is positively associated with inter-ethnic trust, whereas for immigrants there is no effect. Furthermore, for natives, religious diversity negatively affects the quality of contact with neighbours and inter-ethnic trust, whereas for immigrants this effect is positive. Economic diversity positively impacts on trust in the neighbourhood and inter-ethnic trust. We do not find an effect of language proficiency. We conclude that, besides ethnic diversity, other forms of diversity in the neighbourhood do also affect trust. Furthermore, diversity can undermine, but also build, various aspects of trust. Last, diversity in the neighbourhood does not mean the same for immigrant and native residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]