PITTSBURGH—The perceived neediness of Hurricane Katrina victims is a better determinant of charitable giving than the victims’ race, according to study by Christina M. Fong, research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, and Erzo F.P. Luttmer, associate professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The paper was published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

The study explains that, on average, charitable giving to Katrina victims is not affected by the perceived race of the recipients. Racial bias does, however, exist within certain subgroups of whites. Whites who say they identify with their ethnic or racial group give significantly less to blacks, and whites who say they do not identify with their ethnic or racial group give significantly more to blacks.