Joint seminar with the Management & Marketing Department of the School of Business and Economics and LSC—The Laws of Social Cohesion and part of the seminar series Preventing Corporate Misconduct.

The study of biases, such as gender or racial biases, is an important topic in the social and behavioural sciences. However, the literature does not always clearly define the concept. Definitions of bias are often ambiguous or not provided at all. To study biases in a precise manner, it is important to have a well-defined concept of bias. We propose to define bias as a direct causal effect that is unjustified. We propose to define the closely related concept of disparity as a direct or indirect causal effect that includes a bias. Our proposed definitions can be used to study biases and disparities in a more rigorous and systematic way. We compare our definitions of bias and disparity with various criteria of fairness introduced in the artificial intelligence literature. We also illustrate our definitions in two case studies, focusing on gender bias in science and racial bias in police shootings. Our proposed definitions aim to contribute to a better appreciation of the causal intricacies of studies of biases and disparities. We hope that this will also promote an improved understanding of the policy implications of such studies.

See the full paper on arxiv.org here.

Time & Location

25 May 2023 | 02:15–3:45 PM
In-person & online
Business School | Garystraße 21 | HS 108a
Join via fuels.berlin/webex