Housing Discrimination and the Toxics Exposure Gap in the United States: Evidence from the Rental Market

Peter Christensen, Ignacio Sarmiento-Barbieri and Christopher Timmins

No 26805, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Local pollution exposures disproportionately impact minority households, but the root causes remain unclear. This study conducts a correspondence experiment on a major online housing platform to test whether housing discrimination constrains minority access to housing options in markets with significant sources of airborne chemical toxics. We find that renters with African American or Hispanic/LatinX names are 41% less likely than renters with White names to receive responses for properties in low-exposure locations. We find no evidence of discriminatory constraints in high-exposure locations, indicating that discrimination increases relative access to housing choices at elevated exposure risk.

JEL-codes: Q51 Q53 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-exp and nep-ure
Note: EEE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published as Peter Christensen & Ignacio Sarmiento-Barbieri & Christopher Timmins, 2022. "Housing Discrimination and the Toxics Exposure Gap in the United States: Evidence from the Rental Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol 104(4), pages 807-818.

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Journal Article: Housing Discrimination and the Toxics Exposure Gap in the United States: Evidence from the Rental Market (2022)
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