Does Competition Reduce Discimination?

Evidence from College Footbal

A standard economic view holds that markets will moderate some kinds of discrimination because “profit” maximizing organizations will recognize that discrimination is costly to their bottom line or other goals.

A recent study looked to the integration of college football in the 1970s for supporting evidence. By comparing conference-wide rankings and team win percentages before and after a team integrated, the study found that

poorly performing teams, potentially seeking to improve their win rate, choose to integrate.

Also,

worse teams were more likely to integrate than better teams… A likely explanation … is that poorly performing teams integrated to attract talented players.

These results indicate that

firms with low profits stop discriminating, or discriminate less, in a bid to increase profitability.

Somewhere, Gary Becker is smiling.