The nature and limits of Gary Becker’s theory of racial discrimination

Sanford Ikeda ()
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Sanford Ikeda: SUNY

The Review of Austrian Economics, 2018, vol. 31, issue 4, No 2, 403-417

Abstract: Abstract To what extent does Gary Becker’s model of discrimination capture “the essence of prejudice and discrimination”? After providing a general outline of Becker’s original model and summarizing some subsequent developments, this paper takes a critical perspective on the model to suggest that the absence of imperfect information in his approach unhelpfully limits its explanatory power. Instead, an approach that allows for the possibility of genuine error and draws on Adam Smith’s analysis of the impact of markets on one’s moral sense offers a deeper, more realistic understanding of what it means for people to express their prejudice (or not) through their choices.

Keywords: Gary Becker; Discrimination; Prejudice; Imperfect knowledge; Choice; Adam smith; Prudence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B31 B41 D89 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1007/s11138-018-0420-9

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