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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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    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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