Racial and Socioeconomic Gaps in Science and Innovation
Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (EST)
- Chair: Gaia Dossi, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF)
Race and Science
Abstract
What are the consequences of the racial gap in science and innovation? I study this question by combining data on US patents, medical research articles, clinical trials, and research grants with the racial distribution of last names in the US population. Using last names as a proxy for race, I find that the racial composition of scientists affects the direction, as well as the rate, of medical research and innovation. First, Black scientists are three times as likely to design clinical trials with Black participants and twice as likely to publish articles focused on Black individuals. Second, Black scientists are more likely to research diseases frequent in the Black population, and white scientists in the white population. Third, I draw a link between race and the direction of research by focusing on diseases more common in Black individuals (e.g., sickle cell anemia) or white individuals (e.g., melanoma) due to evolutionary advantages in their ancestors' countries of origin. Fourth, I document the impact of relative disease incidence on the direction of research by studying an exogenous change in HIV-related mortality among Black compared to white Americans. I estimate a general equilibrium Roy model with racial frictions and endogenous choice of occupation. Using the data, I quantify the parameters and estimate that removing barriers would increase the overall number of inventors by 1 p.p., a 10% increase from the baseline.Supply-Side Barriers in Black Patenting: Evidence from Innovative Firms
Abstract
Prior work has documented a substantial gap in high-growth entrepreneurship among Black founders, but the mechanisms underlying this gap remain elusive. Patents serve as "success markers" that help founders raise venture capital, so we explore whether this gap is explained in part by Black employees filing patents at lower rates, and if so, where in the process the disparity emerges. We find that the racial gap in patenting forms at the filing stage, not through downstream discrimination. Among employees at innovative firms (i.e., with at least 50 patents), Black workers patent at one-fifth the rate of colleagues in similar roles. Using quasi-random assignment of patent applications to examiners as an instrument, we rule out three demand-side explanations: patent approval rates are nearly identical; marginally-approved Black patents show no quality deficit in an outcome test; and patent grants are equally effective in propelling Black inventors toward high-growth entrepreneurship. Black inventors who do file have stronger credentials than peers, and Black employees are more likely to found startups despite patenting less. Our results point to a supply-side gap at the patent filing stage, not downstream discrimination.Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia
Abstract
We explore how socio-economic background shapes academia, collecting the largest dataset of U.S. academics’ backgrounds and research output. Individuals from poorer backgrounds have been severely underrepresented for seven decades, especially in humanities and elite universities. Father’s occupation predicts professors’ discipline choice and, thus, the direction of research. While we find no differences in the average number of publications, academics from poorer backgrounds are both more likely to not publish and to have outstanding publication records. Academics from poorer backgrounds introduce more novel scientific concepts, but are less likely to receive recognition, as measured by citations, Nobel Prize nominations, and awards.JEL Classifications
- O3 - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
- J1 - Demographic Economics