We provide causal evidence of skin tone discrimination using professional football (soccer) as a natural laboratory. Leveraging a computer-vision measure of skin tone and quasi-random variation in shot outcomes near the goal frame, we implement a Difference-in-Discontinuities design comparing narrowly scored goals to narrowly missed attempts. We find that Light-skinned players receive significantly larger boosts in post-match ratings than Tan- and Dark-skinned peers for identical actions. These disparities appear in both algorithmic and human-assigned evaluations and are concentrated in the subjective component of ratings. Season-level analyses reveal that biased evaluations translate into lower market valuations for darker-skinned players, despite equivalent performance. Evaluative bias, rather than differential treatment in contracts, emerges as a key driver of economic inequality in this high-information labor market. Our findings show how skin color discrimination can persist even in environments with transparent outcomes and extensive performance data.
COLLABORATION
The Ministry of Family Affairs (MFSVA) and LISER are conducting a study on living together in Luxembourg.
