The Paradox of Statistical Discrimination

A growing body of research suggests a biological basis for some of the differences between men and women in the distribution of aptitudes. Such a biological basis, however, produces a paradox. As is often noted, it suggests that men and women would not be equally distributed among occupations even in a perfectly fair society. At the same time, a statistical aptitude difference will almost inevitably cause discrimination in professions that make use of that aptitude. The larger the difference, the more likely discrimination is. This paradoxical result is supported by empirical evidence about the continued existence of discrimination. Aptitude distribution differences create tremendous challenges for anti-discrimination policy. Liability rules based on current labor market representation are of minimal use, since the labor market reflects existing discrimination. Affirmative action policies are problematic: target goals are impracticable to set and, even if realistic, would need to become a permanent institution. Closer scrutiny of employer practices holds some promise as an alternative to numerically based theories. Preliminary draft 5.3. Comments welcome; not for quotation or citation without permission.