Luca Fumarco: Judging by the Color of their Skin – Judges’ Implicit and Attention Discrimination in US Boxing
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9. února 2026
14:00 – 15:00 - Hybrid meeting room (215), Ekonomicko-správní fakulta MU, Lipová 41a, Brno
Public lecture within the habilitation procedure of Luca Fumarco in the field of Economics.
This lecture is based on our paper, which studies racial bias in expert performance evaluation using professional boxing in the United States as a quasi-experimental setting. In each fight, three judges independently score two boxers whose performances are directly compared, under high pressure and scrutiny. Based on detailed data from 184 matches in 2008–2015, we provide new evidence of racial bias in performance evaluation, specifically examining whether White judges favor boxers of their own race. We exploit the quasi-random assignment of judges to fights—confirmed through balance tests—and control for objective performance measures (e.g., punch efficiency, landed punches), fighters’ characteristics, and fight fixed effects. The main finding is that White judges assign significantly higher percentile scores to White boxers compared to non-White judges scoring the same White boxers, with an effect size equivalent to roughly 1.5 additional points in a typical fight. This bias is both statistically and economically significant, representing about 30% of the baseline score gap between competitors. We find no corresponding advantage for non-White boxers or for White judges scoring non-White fighters. A series of robustness checks, including boxer fixed effects, alternative race classifications, and expanded samples, confirm the finding. Heterogeneity analyses show that racial bias is larger in cities with a higher share of White residents and in fights officiated by a non-White in-ring referee.
We then explore implicit and attention-based mechanisms. Bias is stronger in settings characterized by higher fight pace and lower visibility, and White boxers are more likely to win when scored by three White judges than by multiracial panels, consistent with a lack of coordination and implicit rather than explicit discrimination. Finally, round-level analyses indicate attention discrimination: after the first few rounds, White judges score White boxers more favorably, responding more positively to their relative punching activity in the later stages of the fight. Overall, the paper contributes to the literature on discrimination in evaluation by showing how implicit and attention-driven bias can arise even among highly trained professionals operating under formal rules and intense monitoring.
The lecture will take place at ECON MUNI in the Hybrid meeting room (room 215) on 9 February 2026 between 2 pm and 3 pm.
It is possible to join online on MS Teams, but in-person attendance is encouraged and welcome.
MS Teams link: Luca Fumarco: Judging by the Color of their Skin – Public lecture
- Pořadatel
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Oddělení výzkumu a projektů (Ekonomicko-správní fakulta)
- Odpovědnost
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Mgr. Veronika Zuskáčová, Ph.D.
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