The nature of discrimination in recreation decision making

Abstract Using data on the site choices of marine recreational anglers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, we build on previous literature that finds anglers are willing to encumber travel costs to avoid sites located in areas with more predominant Black and Hispanic populations. Upon exploring the nature of this discrimination, we find results that are consistent with the predictions of statistical discrimination theory, as more experienced anglers discriminate less than less experienced anglers. We also find some results consistent with taste‐based discrimination, as we observe different degrees of discrimination among anglers from less (more) diverse trip origins. However, the evidence of taste‐based discrimination disappears in analyses using a novel dataset containing angler‐level race and ethnicity data. We conclude that the observed discrimination is predominantly statistical in nature, a product of a choice setting involving imperfect information that becomes less imperfect as anglers gain experience.