Taste-based discrimination

Taste-based discrimination is an economic model of labor market discrimination which argues that employers experience negative effects as a result of hiring minority workers, meaning that they can be said to have a taste for discrimination. The model further posits that employers discriminate against minority applicants to avoid interacting with them, regardless of the applicant's productivity, and that employers are willing to pay a financial penalty to do so. It is one of the two leading theoretical explanations for labor market discrimination, the other being statistical discrimination.[1][2] The taste-based model further supposes that employers' preference for employees of certain groups is unrelated to their preference for more productive employees.[3] According to this model, employees that are members of a group that is discriminated against may have to work harder for the same wage.[4]

History

The taste-based discrimination model was first proposed by Gary Becker in 1957.[3] Becker argued that the reasons for such discrimination should be determined by psychologists and sociologists, not by economists, and he sought only to determine the consequences of discrimination as manifested in economic decision-making.[5] The early version of this model was criticized for failing to explain the continued existence of discriminating firms, because it predicts that these firms will be less profitable than their non-discriminating counterparts.[6] Nevertheless, the taste-based model has since become the predominant economic explanation for discriminatory practices.[5]

Distinguishing taste-based and statistical discrimination

It is difficult for economists to distinguish between taste-based and statistical discrimination.[7] In 2014, however, researchers from the Center for Economic and Policy Research conducted a study of the Fantasy Premier League which allowed them to control for statistical discrimination, because all information about potential employees' productivity is publicly disclosed. They found no evidence of taste-based discrimination.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Baert, Stijn; Pauw, Ann-Sophie De. "Is ethnic discrimination due to distaste or statistics?". Economics Letters. 125 (2): 270–273. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2014.09.020. hdl:1854/LU-5704419.
  2. ↑ Krueger, Alan B. (2002-12-12). "Economic Scene; Sticks and stones can break bones, but the wrong name can make a job hard to find". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  3. 1 2 Neilson, William; Ying, Shanshan. "From taste-based to statistical discrimination". Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 129: 116–128. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2016.06.001.
  4. ↑ Autor, David (2003-11-24). "Lecture Note: The Economics of Discrimination — Theory".
  5. 1 2 "Discrimination, Taste For". International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008.
  6. ↑ Siddique, Zahra. "Evidence on Caste Based Discrimination". Labour Economics. 18: S146–S159. doi:10.1016/j.labeco.2011.07.002.
  7. ↑ Moser, Petra. "Taste-based discrimination: evidence from a shift in ethnic preferences after WWI". Explorations in Economic History. 49 (2): 167–188. doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2011.12.003.
  8. ↑ Bryson, Alex; Chevalier, Arnaud (2014-08-15). "Is there a 'taste for discrimination'?". VoxEU.org. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
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