About this episode
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern solution is to invoke a diversity mandate. But new research shows that’s not necessarily the answer. RESOURCES: " Discrimination, Managers, and Firm Performance: Evidence from 'Aryanizations' in Nazi Germany ," by Kilian Huber, Volker Lindenthal, and Fabian Waldinger ( Journal of Political Economy, 2021). " Diversity and Performance in Entrepreneurial Teams ," by Sophie Calder-Wang, Paul A. Gompers, and Kevin Huang ( SSRN, 2021). " Systemic Discrimination Among Large U.S. Employers ," by Patrick M. Kline, Evan K. Rose, and Christopher R. Walters ( NBER Working Papers, 2021). City of Champions: A History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit , by Silke-Maria Weineck and Stefan Szymanski (2020). " The Allocation of Talent and U.S. Economic Growth ," by Chang-Tai Hsieh, Erik Hurst, Charles I. Jones, and Peter J. Klenow ( Econometrica, 2019). Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 , by Norman Lebrecht (2019). " And the Children Shall Lead: Gender Diversity and Performance in Venture Capital ," by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang ( NBER Working Papers, 2017). " The Political Economy of Hatred ," by Edward Glaeser ( The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2005). " Statistical Theories of Discrimination in Labor Markets ," by Dennis J. Aigner and Glen G. Cain ( Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 1977). The Economics of Discrimination , by Gary S. Becker (1957). EXTRAS: " A New Nobel Laureate Explains the Gender Pay Gap (Replay) ," by Freakonomics Radio (2023). " Edward Glaeser Explains Why Some Cities Thrive While Others Fade Away ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021). " What Are the Secrets of the German Economy — and Should We Steal Them? " by Freakonomics Radio (2017). SOURCES: Kilian Huber , professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Silke-Maria Weineck , professor of German studies and comparative literature at the University of Michigan. Sophie Calder-Wang , professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.