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From taste-based to statistical discrimination

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  • Neilson, William
  • Ying, Shanshan

Abstract

Consider hiring managers who care not just about productivity but also some other, unrelated characteristic. If they treat that ascriptive characteristic differently across groups by, for example, valuing beauty more for women than men, then the hired women will be better looking but less productive, on average. This taste-based discrimination, focused entirely on an ascriptive characteristic, can lead to productivity-based statistical discrimination by the firm’s subsequent hiring managers who observe from their workforce that women tend to produce less. This identifies a new channel behind statistical discrimination that arises from the behavior of prior hiring managers.

Suggested Citation

  • Neilson, William & Ying, Shanshan, 2016. "From taste-based to statistical discrimination," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 116-128.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:129:y:2016:i:c:p:116-128
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.06.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Hanson, Andrew, 2017. "Do college admissions counselors discriminate? Evidence from a correspondence-based field experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 86-96.
    3. Enriqueta Aragonès, 2024. "Gender Choice at Work," Working Papers 1460, Barcelona School of Economics.
    4. Morsy, Hanan & El-Shal, Amira & Woldemichael, Andinet, 2019. "Women Self-Selection out of the Credit Market in Africa," MPRA Paper 100395, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Peng, Langchuan & Wang, Xi & Ying, Shanshan, 2020. "The heterogeneity of beauty premium in China: Evidence from CFPS," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 386-396.
    6. Lundberg, Alexander & Mungan, Murat, 2022. "The effect of evidentiary rules on conviction rates," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 563-576.
    7. Nigel Burnell & Irina Cojuharenco & Zahra Murad, 2020. "He Taught, She Taught: The effect of teaching style, academic credentials, bias awareness and academic discipline on gender bias in teaching evaluations," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2020-05, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.
    8. Wisniewski, Janna & Walker, Brigham & Tinkler, Sarah & Stano, Miron & Sharma, Rajiv, 2021. "Mediators of discrimination in primary care appointment access," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discrimination; Gender; Beauty; Ascriptive characteristics; Hiring;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

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