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  • April 2017
  • Article
  • American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Benjamin Edelman, Michael Luca and Daniel Svirsky
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

In an experiment on Airbnb, we find that applications from guests with distinctively African-American names are 16% less likely to be accepted relative to identical guests with distinctively White names. Discrimination occurs among landlords of all sizes, including small landlords sharing the property and larger landlords with multiple properties. It is most pronounced among hosts who have never had an African-American guest, suggesting only a subset of hosts discriminate. While rental markets have achieved significant reductions in discrimination in recent decades, our results suggest that Airbnb’s current design choices facilitate discrimination and raise the possibility of erasing some of these civil rights gains.

Keywords

Discrimination; Field Experiment; Bias; Airbnb; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Accommodations Industry

Citation

Edelman, Benjamin, Michael Luca, and Daniel Svirsky. "Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 9, no. 2 (April 2017): 1–22.
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About The Author

Michael Luca

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

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  • What the Research Really Says about American Immigration, Book review of <i>Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success</i>, by Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan By: Michael Luca
  • Complex Disclosure By: Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca and Daniel Martin
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