Organisational Values, Self-Image and Inclusion: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Girum Abebe, Brooke, Siân, Tom Gole, Simon Quinn and Tom Schwantje

No 21457, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We conduct a field experiment within a business plan competition to examine how institutional features influence inclusive decision-making. In the control group, over the course of independent sequential assessments, evaluators become less likely to recommend female candidates. This pattern reduces the quality of their decisions – as measured by expert assessments and machine-learning methods. Informing judges of the organisation’s commitment to equal opportunity entirely offsets this decline, whereas requiring judges to justify their decisions to peers has a more muted effect. Our results show that decision fatigue can undermine both decision quality and inclusivity, but simple organisational messaging can resolve this.

Keywords: Field; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D91 J16 J71 M51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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