Better residential than ethnic discrimination! Reconciling audit and interview findings in the Parisian housing market

Francois Bonnet, Etienne Lalé, Mirna Safi and Etienne Wasmer
Additional contact information
Francois Bonnet: CNRS, UMR Pacte, France
Etienne Lalé: University of Bristol, UK
Mirna Safi: Sciences Po, Sociology, France
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Etienne Lalé ()

Urban Studies, 2016, vol. 53, issue 13, 2815-2833

Abstract: This article investigates discrimination and the interplay of residential and ethnic stigma on the French housing market using two different methods: paired-testing audit study of real-estate agencies and face-to-face interviews with real-estate agents. Findings lead to a paradox: interviews reveal high levels of ethnic discrimination but little to no residential discrimination, while the audit study shows that living in deprived suburbs is associated with a lower probability of obtaining an appointment for a housing vacancy but ethnic origin (signalled by the candidate’s name) has no significant discriminatory effect. We have three priors potentially consistent with this apparent paradox and re-evaluate their likelihood in light of these findings: (1) agents make use of any statistical information about insolvency, including residency; (2) there are two distinct and independent taste discriminations, one about space and one about ethnicity; (3) these two dimensions exist and complement each other.

Keywords: audit; discrimination; housing; interviews; Paris; sociology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Better residential than ethnic discrimination!: Reconciling audit’s and interview findings in the Parisian housing market (2016)
Working Paper: Better residential than ethnic discrimination!: Reconciling audit’s and interview findings in the Parisian housing market (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:53:y:2016:i:13:p:2815-2833

DOI: 10.1177/0042098015596107

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