Discrimination Preferences

Nickolas Gagnon and Daniele Nosenzo

EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: We reconsider discrimination preferences through moral lenses and conduct experiments to systematically investigate these preferences using representative UK samples. Specifically, we evaluate the distribution of individual preferences for and against taste-and statistical-based discrimination across three domains—ethnicity, gender, and LGBTQ+ status. Using over 60,000 anonymous decisions affecting how workers are paid from more than 3,500 individuals, we document that most individuals prefer to engage in at least one type of discrimination, that there is substantial heterogeneity in preferences, and that the existence of multiple preferences changes our understanding of why individuals engage or not in discrimination. Among others, we examine how preferences relate across domains, map them onto socio-demographic characteristics, politics, support for policies, and gender wage gaps, and study underlying redistributive principles and effects of wage transparency.

Keywords: Ethnicity; Gender; LGBTQ+; Moral principles; Experiment; Discrimination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 D90 J23 J31 J71 J78 K31 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-exp and nep-lma
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esprep:323979

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5345787

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