Economic Measurement of Discrimination

Pre-reqs: Microeconomics and Quant II. Discrimination is the differential treatment of people based on identity or perceived identity (race, gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ status, age, religion, ability, immigration status, etc.). Such behavior violates certain legal, social, and moral norms and negatively impacts those discriminated against. For these and other reasons, it is important to formally identify discrimination from data. But how can we determine whether A’s treatment of B is due to B’s identity as opposed to some other characteristic of B or A that may not even be captured by a variable? In this class, we will explore economists’ methodologies for addressing this question. We will survey the economic literature on discrimination against various groups across different markets and countries.