Race and Gender

In new research, Markus Eberhardt, Giovanni Facchini, and Valeria Rueda delve into a unique database comprising 12,000 reference letters, which were written in support of more than 3,700 applicants applying for academic job positions in economics in the United Kingdom. Their analysis uncovers a pervasive disparity in the way male and female candidates are recommended. Specifically, the authors observe that women are frequently lauded for their hard work and determination, and at times less likely to be praised for their natural talent. They also show that such gender-based stereotyping hinders the progress of women economists.

In a field experiment conducted with economists on Twitter, the authors find that users who are identifiable as white, women, and PhD students affiliated with “top-ten” universities are more likely to receive follow-backs.

The consumer welfare standard employs a collective consumer in its model when evaluating possibly anticompetitive behavior. This aggregated approach fails to recognize that such...

Scholars and policymakers have put much faith into the prospect of internet connectivity catalyzing development in low- and middle-income countries. In new research, Pinelopi...

The gender pay gap is a well-documented phenomenon in global labor markets, but this gap does not seem to apply to the pay of...

The literature on globalization’s impact on women’s workforce participation generally takes a positive outlook but still produces mixed results. In their research, Yoav Roll,...

In "The Gender of Capital: How Families Perpetuate Wealth Inequality," sociologists Céline Bessière and Sibylle Gollac show how ostensibly egalitarian property laws still...

Decades of progress have seen greater opportunities for women in the workplace, but sizable gender gaps still remain. Stefania Albanesi, Claudia Olivetti and Barbara...

American capitalism was built on racial exploitation, from the enslavement of Black people to institutionalized discrimination and its structural impact on our nation’s economic...

The US stands out among developed economies for its comparatively low level of redistribution as a percentage of GDP. Gustavo de Souza examines the...