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Recent Contributions to Theories of Discrimination

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  • Paula Onuchic

Abstract

This paper surveys the literature on theories of discrimination, focusing mainly on new contributions. Recent theories expand on the traditional taste-based and statistical discrimination frameworks by considering specific features of learning and signaling environments, often using novel information- and mechanism-design language; analyzing learning and decision making by algorithms; and introducing agents with behavioral biases and misspecified beliefs. An online appendix attempts to narrow the gap between the economic perspective on ``theories of discrimination'' and the broader study of discrimination in the social science literature by identifying a class of models of discriminatory institutions, made up of theories of discriminatory social norms and discriminatory institutional design.

Suggested Citation

  • Paula Onuchic, 2022. "Recent Contributions to Theories of Discrimination," Papers 2205.05994, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2025.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2205.05994
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paula Onuchic & Debraj Ray, 2023. "Signaling and Discrimination in Collaborative Projects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(1), pages 210-252, January.
    2. Moro, Andrea & Norman, Peter, 2004. "A general equilibrium model of statistical discrimination," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 1-30, January.
    3. Kevin Lang & Jee-Yeon K. Lehmann, 2012. "Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market: Theory and Empirics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 959-1006, December.
    4. Junpei Komiyama & Shunya Noda, 2020. "On Statistical Discrimination as a Failure of Social Learning: A Multi-Armed Bandit Approach," Papers 2010.01079, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2023.
    5. Bernheim, B Douglas, 1994. "A Theory of Conformity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 841-877, October.
    6. Larry Samuelson & George J. Mailath & Avner Shaked, 2000. "Endogenous Inequality in Integrated Labor Markets with Two-Sided Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 46-72, March.
    7. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics and Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 715-753.
    8. Peter Hull, 2021. "What Marginal Outcome Tests Can Tell Us About Racially Biased Decision-Making," NBER Working Papers 28503, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Kawamura, Kohei & Moreno de Barreda, Inés, 2014. "Biasing selection contests with ex-ante identical agents," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 240-243.
    10. J Aislinn Bohren & Peter Hull & Alex Imas, 2025. "Systemic Discrimination: Theory and Measurement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 140(3), pages 1743-1799.
    11. Marciano Siniscalchi & Pietro Veronesi, 2020. "Self-image Bias and Lost Talent," NBER Working Papers 28308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Akerlof, Robert & Rayo, Luis, 2020. "Narratives and the Economics of the Family," CEPR Discussion Papers 15152, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Suanna Oh, 2023. "Does Identity Affect Labor Supply?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(8), pages 2055-2083, August.
    14. Rachel E. Kranton, 2016. "Identity Economics 2016: Where Do Social Distinctions and Norms Come From?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 405-409, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fahn, Matthias & Murooka, Takeshi, 2024. "Informal Incentives and Labor Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 17042, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Federico Echenique & Anqi Li, 2022. "Rationally Inattentive Statistical Discrimination: Arrow Meets Phelps," Papers 2212.08219, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2024.
    3. Vojtech Bartos & Ulrich Glogowsky & Johannes Rincke, 2025. "The Color of Knowledge: Impacts of Tutor Race on Learning and Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 12352, CESifo.
    4. Shanglyu Deng & Hanming Fang & Qiang Fu & Zenan Wu, 2023. "Information Favoritism and Scoring Bias in Contests," NBER Working Papers 31036, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Eyting, Markus, 2022. "Why do we discriminate? The role of motivated reasoning," SAFE Working Paper Series 356, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    6. repec:cam:camjip:2225 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Charlson, G., 2022. "Digital gold? Pricing, inequality and participation in data markets," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2258, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    8. Markus Eyting, 2022. "Why do we Discriminate? The Role of Motivated Reasoning," Working Papers 2208, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    9. Deb, Rahul & Renou, Ludovic, 2022. "Which Wage Distributions are Consistent with Statistical Discrimination?," CEPR Discussion Papers 17676, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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