Abstract
This Article explores what happens when behavioral law and economics and implicit social cognition collide, and presents an empirical study designed to test the hypothesis that racial stereotypes overpower behavioral economic phenomena...Section II details behavioral law and economics as well as implicit social cognition. It examines the social science basis of each field and explores the similar cognitive mechanics underlying them. Section III investigates what happens when race is introduced into economic decision-making and considers how racial stereotypes may specifically affect economic decisions already at risk of irrationality. Research has documented that economic decision-making is often discriminatory; new evidence suggests that these decisions may be predicted by implicit racial bias...Building on these rationale for considering behavioral economics and implicit social cognition together, section IV presents the empirical study I conducted to test the hypothesis that implicit racial stereotypes can overpower economic-based cognitive biases...Section V considers the results of the empirical study in light of behavioral law and economics literature as well as implicit bias scholarship. It proposes that all discussions of behavioral economics must become race competent and provides a research agenda for future empirical study. Section VI concludes.
Recommended Citation
Levinson, Justin D.
(2012)
"SuperBias: The Collision of Behavioral Economics and Implicit Social Cognition,"
Akron Law Review: Vol. 45:
Iss.
3, Article 4.
Available at:
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronlawreview/vol45/iss3/4