Hiring as Exploration

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Li, Danielle; Raymond, Lindsey; Bergman, Peter
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdaf040
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: racial-discrimination; GENDER; EMPLOYMENT; BIAS; INFORMATION; performance; integration; regression; DISCRETION; diversity

摘要

This article views hiring as a contextual bandit problem: to find the best workers over time, firms must balance exploitation (selecting from groups with proven track records) with exploration (selecting from under-represented groups to learn about quality). Yet modern hiring algorithms, based on supervised learning approaches, are designed solely for exploitation. Instead, we build a resume screening algorithm that values exploration by evaluating candidates according to their statistical upside potential. Using data from professional services recruiting within a Fortune 500 firm, we show that this approach improves the quality (as measured by eventual hiring rates) of candidates selected for an interview, while also increasing demographic diversity, relative to the firm's existing practices. The same is not true for traditional supervised learning-based algorithms, which improve hiring rates but select far fewer Black and Hispanic applicants. Together, our results highlight the importance of incorporating exploration in developing decision-making algorithms that are potentially both more efficient and equitable.