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Contexts and conditions of ethnic discrimination: Evidence from a field experiment in a German housing market

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  • Auspurg, Katrin
  • Hinz, Thomas
  • Schmid, Laura

Abstract

People's housing conditions and places of residence have serious impacts on individual well-being and social stratification. This article focuses on different forms of ethnic discrimination in the rental housing market. Several hypotheses on statistical discrimination, spatial steering, and discrimination by price were tested by a field experiment in Germany that was unique regarding both the amount of information available on rental units and on ethnic composition of neighborhoods. For 637 rental objects, two e-mail inquiries were sent out with applicants having German or Turkish names and varying occupations. Logistic random intercept regressions revealed a discrimination rate against Turkish applicants of 9 percentage points. Indicating a high occupational status in the application reduced this discrimination rate significantly, but private landlords tended to disregard status and discriminate by migration background only. Surprisingly, the discrimination against Turkish applicants was the strongest when the proportion of Turkish residents living in the neighborhood was highest. German applicants were particularly favored over Turks when making applications for reasonably priced objects. These results point to both core mechanisms driving discrimination (preference and information) being relevant, but in different market segments.

Suggested Citation

  • Auspurg, Katrin & Hinz, Thomas & Schmid, Laura, 2017. "Contexts and conditions of ethnic discrimination: Evidence from a field experiment in a German housing market," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 26-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:35:y:2017:i:c:p:26-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2017.01.003
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    2. McGinnity, Frances & Russell, Helen & Privalko, Ivan & Enright, Shannen & O'Brien, Doireann, 2021. "Monitoring adequate housing in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT413, July.
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    4. Ingrid Gould Ellen & Stephen L. Ross, 2018. "Race and the City," Working Papers 2018-022, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Souleymane Mbaye, 2019. "Trois évaluations d’actions de lutte contre les discriminations," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph19-01 edited by Pascale Petit, February.
    6. Koopmans, Ruud & Veit, Susanne & Yemane, Ruta, 2018. "Ethnische Hierarchien in der Bewerberauswahl: Ein Feldexperiment zu den Ursachen von Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Migration, Integration, Transnationalization SP VI 2018-104, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Ying Wu & Junhua Chen & Zhaian Bian & Hao Wang & Zhifeng Wang, 2020. "Housing, Housing Stratification, and Chinese Urban Residents’ Social Satisfaction: Evidence from a National Household Survey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 653-671, November.
    8. Jessen, Jonas & Schmitz, Sophia & Waights, Sevrin, 2020. "Understanding day care enrolment gaps," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    9. Jaap Nieuwenhuis & Tiit Tammaru & Maarten van Ham & Lina Hedman & David Manley, 2020. "Does segregation reduce socio-spatial mobility? Evidence from four European countries with different inequality and segregation contexts," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(1), pages 176-197, January.
    10. S. Chareyron & S. Gorohouna & Y. L'Horty & C. Ris, 2019. "Seeking for tipping point in the housing market: evidences from a field experiment," Post-Print hal-03387703, HAL.
    11. Flage, Alexandre, 2018. "Ethnic and gender discrimination in the rental housing market: Evidence from a meta-analysis of correspondence tests, 2006–2017," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 251-273.
    12. Zamora, Paula & Mantilla, César & Blanco, Mariana, 2021. "Price discrimination in informal labor markets in Bogotá: an audit experiment during the 2018 FIFA World Cup," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 55, pages 1-6.
    13. Auspurg, Katrin & Schneck, Andreas & Thiel, Fabian, 2020. "Different samples, different results? How sampling techniques affect the results of field experiments on ethnic discrimination," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Alexandre Flage, 2018. "Ethnic and Gender Discrimination in Rental Housing Market, Evidence from Meta-Analysis of Correspondence Tests, 2006-2017," Working Papers 2018-04, CRESE.
    15. Sylvain Chareyron & Yannick L'Horty & Pascale Petit & Souleymane Mbaye, 2019. "Mesurer l’impact d’un courrier d’alerte sur les discriminations liées à l’origine," Working Papers hal-02333840, HAL.
    16. Moritz, Raphael & Manger, Christian, 2022. "Somebody that I want to know: The non-monotonic effect of personality information on ethnic and gender discrimination in the market for shared housing," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Ghekiere, Abel & Verhaeghe, Pieter-Paul, 2022. "How does ethnic discrimination on the housing market differ across neighborhoods and real estate agencies?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. Lea Eilers & Alfredo R. Paloyo & Colin Vance, 2021. "Rental prices in Germany: A comparison between migrants and natives," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(4), pages 434-466, September.
    19. Grotti, Raffaele & Russell, Helen & Fahey, Éammon & Maître, Bertrand, 2018. "Discrimination and inequality in housing in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT361, July.
    20. Gaddis, S. Michael, 2018. "An Introduction to Audit Studies in the Social Sciences," SocArXiv e5hfc, Center for Open Science.
    21. Hellyer, Joshua, 2021. "Homophobia and the home search: Rental market discrimination against same-sex couples in rural and urban housing markets," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    22. Artavia-Mora, Luis & Bedi, Arjun S. & Rieger, Matthias, 2018. "Help, Prejudice and Headscarves," IZA Discussion Papers 11460, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Carol, Sarah & Hofheinz, Lukas, 2021. "Eine Inhaltsanalyse von Freitagspredigten der Türkischen Islamischen Union der Anstalt für Religion e.V," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Migration, Integration, Transnationalization SP VI 2021-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    24. Carol, Sarah & Kuipers, Coco & Koesling, Philipp & Kaspers, Milan, 2021. "Ethnic and Religious Discrimination in the Wedding Venue Business: Evidence from Two Field Experiments in Germany and Austria," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    25. Jürgen Gerhards & Julia Tuppat, 2018. "„Boundary Maintenance“ oder „Boundary Crossing“? Symbolische Grenzarbeit bei der Vornamenvergabe bei Migrantinnen," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 996, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discrimination; Spatial steering; Rental housing market; Field experiment; Correspondence test;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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