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Interracial Workplace Cooperation: Evidence from the NBA

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  • Joseph Price
  • Lars Lefgren
  • Henry Tappen

Abstract

Using data from the National Basketball Association (NBA), we examine whether patterns of workplace cooperation occur disproportionately among workers of the same race. We find that, holding constant the composition of teammates on the floor, basketball players are no more likely to complete an assist to a player of the same race than a player of a different race. Our confidence interval allows us to reject even small amounts of same-race bias in passing patterns. Our findings suggest that high levels of interracial cooperation can occur in a setting where workers are operating in a highly visible setting with strong incentives to behave efficiently.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Price & Lars Lefgren & Henry Tappen, 2009. "Interracial Workplace Cooperation: Evidence from the NBA," NBER Working Papers 14749, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14749
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    Cited by:

    1. Anthony Edo & Nicolas Jacquemet & Constantine Yannelis, 2019. "Language skills and homophilous hiring discrimination: Evidence from gender and racially differentiated applications," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 349-376, March.
    2. Bastian Kordyaka & Mario Lackner & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2022. "Can too many cooks spoil the broth? Coordination costs, fatigue, and performance in high‐intensity tasks," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(3), pages 1065-1085, January.
    3. Kelly E. Carter, 2018. "The Effect of Labor-Management Complementarities on Production and Efficiency When Management Is Paid but Labor Is Not Paid," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 535-557, September.
    4. Jesse L. Schroffel & Christopher S. P. Magee, 2012. "Own-Race Bias Among NBA Coaches," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(2), pages 130-151, April.
    5. Brox, Enzo & Krieger, Tommy, 2019. "Birthplace diversity and team performance," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. C. Simon Fan & Xiangdong Wei & Junsen Zhang, 2017. "Soft Skills, Hard Skills, And The Black/White Wage Gap," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(2), pages 1032-1053, April.
    7. Avner Ben-Ner & John-Gabriel Licht & Jin Park, 2017. "Bifurcated Effects of Place-of-Origin Diversity on Individual and Team Performance: Evidence from Ten Seasons of German Soccer," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 555-604, October.
    8. David J. Berri & Christian Deutscher & Arturo Galletti, 2015. "Born in the USA: National Origin Effects on Time Allocation in US and Spanish Professional Basketball," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 232(1), pages 41-50, May.
    9. Brox, Enzo & Krieger, Tommy, 2022. "Birthplace diversity and team performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production

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