Interracial Workplace Cooperation: Evidence from the NBA

Joseph Price (), Lars Lefgren () and Henry Tappen

No 14749, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Using data from the National Basketball Association (NBA), we examine whether patterns of workplace cooperation occur disproportionately among workers of the same race. We find that, holding constant the composition of teammates on the floor, basketball players are no more likely to complete an assist to a player of the same race than a player of a different race. Our confidence interval allows us to reject even small amounts of same-race bias in passing patterns. Our findings suggest that high levels of interracial cooperation can occur in a setting where workers are operating in a highly visible setting with strong incentives to behave efficiently.

JEL-codes: J15 J71 L23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-spo
Date: 2009-02
Note: LS
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