Publications
Publications
- 2022
- HBS Working Paper Series
Scapegoating and Discrimination in Times of Crisis: Evidence from Airbnb
By: Michael Luca, Elizaveta Pronkina and Michelangelo Rossi
Abstract
We present evidence that discrimination against Asian-American Airbnb users sharply increased
at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a DiD approach, we find that hosts
with distinctively Asian names experienced a 12 percent decline in guests relative to hosts
with distinctively White names. In contrast, we do not see spikes in discrimination against
Black or Hispanic hosts. Our results suggest that the rise in anti-Asian sentiment in 2020
translated to discrimination in economic activity, highlighting the ways in which scapegoating
minority groups can shape markets. Our results also point to the role of platform design
choices in enabling discrimination.
Keywords
Discrimination; Behavioral Economics; Market Design; Health Pandemics; Prejudice and Bias; Digital Platforms; Design
Citation
Luca, Michael, Elizaveta Pronkina, and Michelangelo Rossi. "Scapegoating and Discrimination in Times of Crisis: Evidence from Airbnb." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-012, August 2022.