<p>Fake resumes are a form of deception in a manner of speaking, but the purpose of the deception is to reveal obfuscated bias in hiring practices. Not all journals take such a hard-line stance on this type of deception and as such papers can still be published.</p>

<p>For a more robust discussion on the main dimensions that determine the judgment of deception, I recommend <a href="https://www.wne.uw.edu.pl/files/4013/9636/8542/WNE_WP96_2013.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Krawczyk (2013)</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-17T21:25:17.637Z
2017-07-17T21:25:17.637Z
Ahoppity
<p>Economists generally frown on deception. For example, the journal Experimental Economics does not publish papers which use deception. However, I know that famous economics studies have been published where people send fake resumes to employers (to detect racial discrimination). For example, <a href="http://www.cos.gatech.edu/facultyres/Diversity_Studies/Bertrand_LakishaJamal.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004)</a>. </p>

<p>Does this mean that sending fake resumes is not deception?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-17T21:44:51.367Z
Thanks for the question. However, I think that this question is probably more suited to a site like academia.SE. It seems primarily opinion-based.
jmbejara
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-18T02:07:43.203Z
@jmbejara Doesn't seem to be opinion-based; deception's a simple concept, and this clearly qualifies.  If anything, it's kind of a boringly straight-forward question.
Nat
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-18T02:24:34.807Z
@Nat. Yeah, you have a point. But, just to be sure, I don't think this is quite the right forum for this kind of question. (See https://economics.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic .) If there's enough public support though, (say, via Meta https://economics.meta.stackexchange.com/), we could maybe reopen the question.
jmbejara
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-18T05:37:08.023Z
I don't think it is the intent of the OP to send fake resumes for her own job applications. Rather the question is about the kinds of deception accepted in experimental social science. Therefore I have nominated the question for reopening. (To get a feeling for the quality of possible answers, see the one already posted.)
Giskard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-18T06:37:58.427Z
This is not an economics question. It might be [philosophy.se], or [elu.se], but it's not economics
410 gone
<experimental-economics>
Is sending fake resumes deception?
wwl
# Is sending fake resumes deception?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-17)

Economists generally frown on deception. For example, the journal Experimental Economics does not publish papers which use deception. However, I know that famous economics studies have been published where people send fake resumes to employers (to detect racial discrimination). For example, [Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004)](http://www.cos.gatech.edu/facultyres/Diversity_Studies/Bertrand_LakishaJamal.pdf).

Does this mean that sending fake resumes is not deception?

**Tags:** experimental-economics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Thanks for the question. However, I think that this question is probably more suited to a site like academia.SE. It seems primarily opinion-based.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 Doesn't seem to be opinion-based; deception's a simple concept, and this clearly qualifies.  If anything, it's kind of a boringly straight-forward question.  
> **username_1**: @username_2. Yeah, you have a point. But, just to be sure, I don't think this is quite the right forum for this kind of question. (See https://economics.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic .) If there's enough public support though, (say, via Meta https://economics.meta.stackexchange.com/), we could maybe reopen the question.  
> **username_3**: I don't think it is the intent of the OP to send fake resumes for her own job applications. Rather the question is about the kinds of deception accepted in experimental social science. Therefore I have nominated the question for reopening. (To get a feeling for the quality of possible answers, see the one already posted.)  
> **username_4**: This is not an economics question. It might be [philosophy.se], or [elu.se], but it's not economics  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-07-17. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Fake resumes are a form of deception in a manner of speaking, but the purpose of the deception is to reveal obfuscated bias in hiring practices. Not all journals take such a hard-line stance on this type of deception and as such papers can still be published.

For a more robust discussion on the main dimensions that determine the judgment of deception, I recommend [Krawczyk (2013)](https://www.wne.uw.edu.pl/files/4013/9636/8542/WNE_WP96_2013.pdf).


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