CEP/Geography Urban and Regional Economics Seminars
Can Information Reduce Ethnic Discrimination : Evidence from Airbnb
Morgane Laouenan (Pantheon-Sorbonne University)
Friday 01 March 2019 13:00 - 14:30
SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH
About this event
We use data from Airbnb to identify the mechanisms underlying discrimination against ethnic-minority hosts. Within the same neighbourhood, hosts from minority groups charge 3.2% less for comparable listings. Since ratings provide guests with increasingly rich information about a listing’s quality, we can measure the contribution of statistical discrimination, building upon Altonji and Pierret (2001). We find that statistical discrimination can account for the whole ethnic price gap: ethnic gaps would disappear if all unobservables were revealed. Also, three quarters (2.5 points) of the initial ethnic gap can be attributed to inaccurate stereotyping by potential guests about hosts’ average group quality.
Participants are expected to adhere to the CEP Events Code of Conduct.
Directions
This event will take place in SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH.
The building is labelled SAL on the LSE campus map. You can also find us on Google Maps. For further information, go to contact us.Urban and Regional Economics Seminars are part of the CEP's Urban and spatial programme.