Author Description

Presents the methodology, results, and policy implications of testing for discrimination using the technique of auditing. The concept of auditing is straightforward. Two individuals are matched on all relevant characteristics except the one presumed to lead to discrimination. Each member of the testing pair then applies for the same job, housing, or service. The differential treatment they receive provides a measure of discrimination. This book argues that the value of auditing has grown in the current legal and political environment, because testing is a particularly effective instrument for detecting the more subtle forms of discrimination that have evolved since the civil rights revolution of the 1960s. The direct evidence of discrimination provided by auditing also offers an evidentiary alternative to plaintiffs whose cases have been weakened by recent Supreme Court decisions. Topics include housing, hiring, mortgage lending, and credit discrimination. Contributing authors include "Ian Ayres, John C. Boger, Roderic Boggs, Christopher Edley, Jr., George C. Galster, James Heckman, Robert Schwemm, Peter Siegelman," and "John Yinger."