Newswise — So claims a Central Michigan University economics professor and a colleague, who found that winning performances break down discrimination in professional sports leagues. The results of the study may apply to other labor markets.
"Exit Discrimination in the NBA: A Duration Analysis of Career Length" by CMU professor J. Richard Hill and Peter A. Groothuis, a faculty member at Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University, sheds positive light on reducing discrimination against black players in professional baseball.
The 11-year study of players shows that the desire for profits motivates league owners to select and retain players based upon productivity and skills, rather than race. Their study included all individuals who participated in the NBA from 1989 through 1999, a total of 1,113 players. The analysis, which varied from earlier studies by researchers, found that winning games supersedes even fans' racial preferences.
"In sports, researchers have long suspected that prejudice by fans is present," said Hill. "Our results indicate that exit discrimination no longer exists in the NBA. We even found an indication that white players have a slightly higher risk of being cut. This is counter to what was found in the 1980s that indicated blacks were discriminated against in salary and career length. The variance in the other studies may be because they examined short, but not long careers."
The study also supports a theory that wage differences and workplace segregation resulting from prejudice by employers and co-workers will dissipate over time in a competitive environment.
"If competition is present, performance on the job may now supersede race as the prime determinant of employee retention," said Hill.
RSS