American Economic Review Vol. 109 No. 10 2019

The Dynamics of Discrimination: Theory and Evidence

J. Aislinn Bohren¹; Alex Imas²; Michael Rosenberg³

¹ University of Pennsylvania, 133 South 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (email: ) · ² Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (email: ) · ³ CarGurus, 2 Canal Park, Cambridge, MA 02141 (email: )

Abstract

We model the dynamics of discrimination and show how its evolution can identify the underlying source. We test these theoretical predictions in a field experiment on a large online platform where users post content that is evaluated by other users on the platform. We assign posts to accounts that exogenously vary by gender and evaluation histories. With no prior evaluations, women face significant discrimination. However, following a sequence of positive evaluations, the direction of discrimination reverses: women’s posts are favored over men’s. Interpreting these results through the lens of our model, this dynamic reversal implies discrimination driven by biased beliefs.

DOI

10.1257/aer.20171829

Volume

109

Issue

10

Pages

3395-3436

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

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