Allocative cost of weighted discrimination (Q1093510)

Discrimination, whether of the reverse or the usual kind, distorts the allocation of resources in favour of, respectively against, the group or individual concerned. Affirmative action and institutional distinction extraneous to work performance are examples where more weight is attached to the agent's subsequent output than is warranted by its intrinsic merit. We introduce this extra weight as a discrimination factor and propose a method of measuring the allocative effect on resources. In as much as the discrimination factor measures a bias i the agent's behavior setting the article is relevant to eco-behavioral research.