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  4. October 2015
  5. Racial Discrimination in Grading: Evidence from Brazil

American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics

ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)

Racial Discrimination in Grading: Evidence from Brazil

  • Fernando Botelho
  • Ricardo A. Madeira
  • Marcos A. Rangel
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 7, no. 4, October 2015
(pp. 37–52)
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Abstract

We investigate whether racial discrimination in the form of biased assessment of students is prevalent within Brazilian schools. Evidence is drawn from unique administrative data pertaining to eighth-grade students and educators. Holding constant performance in blindly-scored tests of proficiency and behavioral traits we find that blacks have lower teacher-assigned math grades than their white classmates. Heterogeneity in differentials provides evidence both of robustness with respect to omission biases and of compatibility with predictions from models of statistical discrimination. (JEL I21, I24, J15, O15)

Citation

Botelho, Fernando, Ricardo A. Madeira, and Marcos A. Rangel. 2015. "Racial Discrimination in Grading: Evidence from Brazil." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7 (4): 37–52. DOI: 10.1257/app.20140352

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I24 Education and Inequality
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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