Designing for racial impartiality: The impact of relocating host photos on the Airbnb website

A.R. Shariq Mohammed

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2025, vol. 229, issue C

Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of Airbnb’s website redesign policy, which delayed the exposure of host profile photos, on racial discrimination. Using a difference-in-difference design across 10 major US cities, the study finds a negligible reduction in the Black-White price gap. The analysis rejects the possibility of a reduction in the Black-White price gap exceeding 2% with 95% confidence. Additionally, textual analysis of guest reviews indicates no discernible change in guests’ likelihood to leave positive reviews based on host race. Overall, these findings suggest that the policy’s modest increase in search costs was insufficient to change guests’ discriminatory behavior.

Keywords: Racial discrimination; Sharing economy; Gig economy platforms; Airbnb; Salience; Platform design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 L85 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:229:y:2025:i:c:s0167268124004785

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106864

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