Ethnic Discrimination on an Online Marketplace of Vacation Rental
Résumé
We use data from an online marketplace of vacation rentals (Airbnb) collected in 19
major cities in North America and Europe to measure discrimination against ethnicminority
hosts. This market has three interesting features: the existence of a detailed
reviewing system, the high frequency of transactions and the panel dimension of the
data. Using the fact that ratings provide potential guests with information about the
quality of a listing, we build a credible measure of statistical discrimination, following
a strategy a la Altonji and Pierret (2001). Hosts from a minority ethnic group charge
16% less than other hosts in the same cities. Controlling for a rich set of characteristics
reduces the ethnic price gap to 3.2%. An additional review increases the daily price
more for minority than for majority hosts. Estimating the parameters of a theoretical
pricing model, we find that statistical discrimination accounts for most of the price
differential: 2.5 percentage points.
Domaines
Economies et finances
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
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