Professor Justin Wolfers discusses his research on racial discrimination by NBA referees

(November 8, 2007)

Last week, members of the Sports Business club were treated to a lecture by Professor Justin Wolfers, the co-author of a study that sparked national debate and significant media coverage earlier this spring. While Professor Wolfers has performed research on such significant subjects as the death penalty, none of his previous research created the stir that his paper on racial bias amongst NBA referees had caused.

First, it is important to consider the motivation behind his research. The main question is whether a referee of a given race shows any bias towards his own or another race. This is not an attempt to discover if these officials are themselves racist, rather it is to find if they harbor a bias, possibly unknown even to themselves.

He chose the NBA for two major reasons. First, while the teams of referees are not randomly assembled, their assignment to a given game is; and given the significant repetition, the result was a quality data set. Second, the group as a whole was a good target, as this type of bias would seem to be rare in a setting with such high visibility, transparency, and strict monitoring. As mentioned by Professor Wolfers, David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, the referees are closely monitored by the league at all times.

His research eventually concluded that there was some level of bias, but only by a slim statistically significant amount. The bias appeared to suggest that the non-black players in the NBA were called for more fouls based on the makeup of the officiating team. Results aside, more importantly was the subsequent backlash from the national media. Ranging from the cover of the New York Times to significant coverage on ESPN shows such as PTI, the study was scrutinized for days.

In the end, Professor Wolfers’ study is statistically sound, and possibly reveals some underlying biases that exist in our society today. Ironically, while many of his studies have a greater perceived social impact, none have garnered the attention of a study on the NBA. As he noted from a conversation with sports writer Bob Ryan, sports is something people truly feel is “important”.

Professor Justin Wolfers is an assistant professor of business and Public Policy.
See the original article: http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/jwolfers/Papers/NBARace.pdf

And the New York Times article about the reaction from the sports media to the controversial research: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/sports/basketball/02refs.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/S/Stern,%20David.

Article contributor: Andrew Chun