Identity and Bias: Insights from Driving Tests

How does one's identity affect the evaluation of others? To shed light on this question, we analyse the universe of driving tests conducted in Israel between 2006 and 2015, leveraging the effectively random assignment of students and testers to tests. We find strong and robust evidence of both ethnic (Arab/Jewish) in-group bias and gender out-group bias. While the first result is in line with the typical finding in the literature, the second is novel. Analyses of administrative and survey data suggest a utility-based interpretation for the observed patterns: testers seem to reward members of groups whose company they enjoy.