Do Landlords Discriminate in the Rental Housing Market? Evidence from an Internet Field Experiment in U.S. Cities

Andrew Hanson and Zackary Hawley

No 2011-05, Experimental Economics Center Working Paper Series from Experimental Economics Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Abstract: This paper tests for racial discrimination in the rental housing market using matched pair audits conducted via e-mail for rental units advertised on-line. We reveal home-seekers' race to landlords by sending e-mails from names with a high likelihood of association with either whites or African Americans. Generally, discrimination occurs against African American names; however, when the content of the e-mail messages insinuates home-seekers with high social class, discrimination is non-existent. Racial discrimination is more severe in neighborhoods that are near "tipping points" in racial composition, and for units that are part of a larger building.

JEL-codes: C93 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 57
Date: 2011-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-ict, nep-mig and nep-ure
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (93)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities (2011)
Journal Article: Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities (2011)
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