The Economics of Discrimination

By Heloise Ardley

As we celebrate Black History Month and reflect upon the hopefully long-lasting impact of Black Lives Matter, the team behind Oxford University Business Economics Programme (OUBEP) wanted to address the issues of discrimination, race, economic opportunities and inequalities by hosting impactful conversations, enriched with data from our research.

We are very excited by the agenda for The Economics of Discrimination series as it will bring together economists, researchers, policy makers, business leaders, students and journalists together to tackle the issues of the economic impact of discrimination.

To introduce the first session, Race and Economic opportunities, I brought together David Williams from Opportunity & Insights at Harvard University and Amgad Sahli, Economics and Management Student at Exeter College, and co-founder of The Black Excellence Network in a short conversation.

Some of the other questions in the series we will discuss include:

• How parental income or the lack of affects a person’s chances of future success?
• Do banks discriminate when lending?
• How is Technology impacting changes in the labour market and could contribute to reducing gender gaps or inequalities in access to employment?

We will explore the findings from our latest research - including how policies translate to strategies and actions - and share real-world accounts of organisations and individuals effecting positive change.