This article analyses national university applications and admissions data to explore why ethnic minority applicants to Russell Group universities are less likely to receive offers of admission than comparably qualified white applicants. Contrary to received opinion, the greater tendency of ethnic minorities to choose highly numerically competitive degree subjects only partially accounts for th...

I propose a textual analysis-based measure to detect when corporate executives blame bad performance on external factors such as industry or the economy (BLAME measure). Using this methodology to analyze quarterly earnings announcement conference call transcripts, I find that: (1) executives are more likely to blame these external factors when their companies experience bad performance, but are...