Working Paper: NBER ID: w17855
Authors: Uri Gneezy; John List; Michael K. Price
Abstract: Social scientists have presented evidence that suggests discrimination is ubiquitous: women, nonwhites, and the elderly have been found to be the target of discriminatory behavior across several labor and product markets. Scholars have been less successful at pinpointing the underlying motives for such discriminatory patterns. We employ a series of field experiments across several market and agent types to examine the nature and extent of discrimination. Our exploration includes examining discrimination based on gender, age, sexual orientation, race, and disability. Using data from more than 3000 individual transactions, we find evidence of discrimination in each market. Interestingly, we find that when the discriminator believes the object of discrimination is controllable, any observed discrimination is motivated by animus. When the object of discrimination is not due to choice, the evidence suggests that statistical discrimination is the underlying reason for the disparate behavior.
Keywords: discrimination; field experiments; animus; statistical discrimination
JEL Codes: C93; J71
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| perceived controllability of characteristics (D91) | nature of discrimination (J71) |
| disability (J14) | price quotes received (D44) |
| perceived search costs (D83) | statistical discrimination (J71) |
| race (J15) | initial offers when bargaining for high-end cars (C78) |
| young black males (J79) | less assistance in helping scenarios (H84) |