Racial Bias in Team Selection: Experimental Evidence from a Fictional Soccer Lineup

Henrik Guhling and Fabian Herweg

No 12914, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We propose a controlled and incentive-compatible design to study racial bias in team-selection decisions. In an online experiment, participants select a soccer lineup from fictitious players whose objective quality is described by numerical attributes. For each player profile, we randomly assign an AI-generated portrait depicting either a Black or a White player, allowing us to isolate the effect of racial appearance. Overall, we find no systematic evidence that White player versions are selected more frequently than otherwise identical Black versions. We also compare generic-team and national-team framing, but find no systematic amplification of racial bias.

Keywords: incentivized experiment; hiring and selection; racial discrimination; soccer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D91 J15 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12914

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