American Economic Review: Insights
ISSN 2640-205X (Print) | ISSN 2640-2068 (Online)
Discrimination in the Formation of Academic Networks: A Field Experiment on #EconTwitter
American Economic Review: Insights
(pp. 357–75)
Abstract
This paper documents discrimination in the formation of professional networks among academic economists. We created 80 bot accounts that claim to be PhD students differing in three characteristics: gender (male or female), race (Black or White), and university affiliation (top- or lower-ranked). The bots randomly followed 6,920 users in the #EconTwitter community. Follow-back rates were 12 percent higher for White students compared to Black students, 21 percent higher for students from top-ranked universities compared to those from lower-ranked institutions, and 25 percent higher for female compared to male students. Notably, the racial gap persists even among students from top-ranked institutions.Citation
Ajzenman, Nicolás, Bruno Ferman, and Pedro C. Sant'Anna. 2025. "Discrimination in the Formation of Academic Networks: A Field Experiment on #EconTwitter." American Economic Review: Insights 7 (3): 357–75. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20240298Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A11 Role of Economics; Role of Economists; Market for Economists
- C93 Field Experiments
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification