Working Paper: NBER ID: w11631
Authors: John J. Donohue III
Abstract: This essay provides an overview of the central theoretical law and economics insights concerning antidiscrimination law across a variety of contexts including discrimination in labor markets, housing markets, consumer purchases, and policing. The different models of discrimination based on animus, statistical discrimination, and cartel exploitation are analyzed for both race and sex discrimination. I explore the theoretical arguments for prohibiting private discriminatory conduct and illustrates the tensions that exist between concerns for liberty and equality. I also discuss the critical point that one cannot automatically attribute observed disparities in various economic or social outcomes to discrimination, and illustrate the complexities in establishing the existence of discrimination. The major empirical findings showing the effectiveness of federal law in the first decade after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act are contrasted with the generally less optimistic findings from subsequent antidiscrimination interventions.
Keywords: discrimination; disparate impact; disparate treatment; profiling; statistical discrimination; antidiscrimination law; economic welfare
JEL Codes: J70; J71; J78; K31; K42; D72
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| subsequent antidiscrimination interventions (J78) | diminishing returns in economic outcomes (D29) |
| disparities in outcomes (I14) | various factors unrelated to discriminatory practices (J79) |
| statistical discrimination models (C52) | unequal pay for equally productive workers (J79) |
| 1964 Civil Rights Act (J71) | economic welfare of black workers (J79) |
| 1964 Civil Rights Act (J71) | wage disparities between black and white workers (J79) |