Discrimination in the Formation of Academic Networks: A Field Experiment on #EconTwitter

Nicolás Ajzenman, Bruno Ferman and Pedro C. Sant'Anna

American Economic Review: Insights, 2025, vol. 7, issue 3, 357-75

Abstract: This paper documents discrimination in the formation of professional networks among academic economists. We created 80 bot accounts that claim to be PhD students differing in three characteristics: gender (male or female), race (Black or White), and university affiliation (top- or lower-ranked). The bots randomly followed 6,920 users in the #EconTwitter community. Follow-back rates were 12 percent higher for White students compared to Black students, 21 percent higher for students from top-ranked universities compared to those from lower-ranked institutions, and 25 percent higher for female compared to male students. Notably, the racial gap persists even among students from top-ranked institutions.

JEL-codes: A11 C93 I23 J15 J16 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20240298

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