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Why Do Real Estate Brokers Continue to Discriminate? Evidence from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study

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Abstract

This paper studies racial and ethnic discrimination in discrete choices by real estate brokers using national audit data from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study. It uses a fixed effects logit model to estimate the probability that discrimination occurs and to study the causes of discrimination. The data set makes it possible to control for auditors' actual demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, along with the characteristics assigned for the purposes of the audit. The study finds that discrimination continues to be strong but also documents a downward trend in both the scope and incidence of discrimination since 1989. The estimations also identify both brokers' prejudice and white customers' prejudice as causes of discrimination.

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  • Bo Zhao & Jan Ondrich & John Yinger, 2005. "Why Do Real Estate Brokers Continue to Discriminate? Evidence from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 67, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    • Handle: RePEc:max:cprwps:67
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    19. Jan Ondrich & Stephen Ross & John Yinger, 2003. "Now You See It, Now You Don't: Why Do Real Estate Agents Withhold Available Houses from Black Customers?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 854-873, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen L. Ross, 2008. "Understanding Racial Segregation: What is known about the Effect of Housing Discrimination," Working papers 2008-15, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2008.
    2. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Decreuse, Bruno & Schmutz, Benoît & Trannoy, Alain, 2018. "Neighbor discrimination theory and evidence from the French rental market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 104-123.
    3. 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.
    4. Julie Le Gallo & Yannick L'Horty & Loïc du Parquet & Pascale Petit, 2017. "Les discriminations dans l’accès au logement en France : Un testing de couverture nationale," TEPP Research Report 2017-11, TEPP.
    5. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary, 2011. "Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2-3), pages 99-114, September.
    6. Bar-Isaac, Heski & Gavazza, Alessandro, 2015. "Brokers’ contractual arrangements in the Manhattan residential rental market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 73-82.
    7. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Bruno Decreuse & Benoît Schmutz & Alain Trannoy, 2010. "The Neighbor is King: Customer Discrimination in the Housing Market," IDEP Working Papers 1003, Institut d'economie publique (IDEP), Marseille, France, revised Jun 2010.
    8. Florent Dubois, 2017. "The Sources of Segregation," Working Papers halshs-01524506, HAL.
    9. Carlsson, Magnus & Eriksson, Stefan, 2014. "Discrimination in the rental market for apartments," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 41-54.
    10. Andrew Hanson & Zackary Hawley, 2023. "Restricted access: Real estate agent response to client race, ethnicity, gender, and side of market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 855-890, July.
    11. John Yinger, 2016. "Hedonic Estimates of Neighborhood Ethnic Preferences," Public Finance Review, , vol. 44(1), pages 22-51, January.
    12. Rohlfs, Chris & Sullivan, Ryan & Kniesner, Thomas J., 2013. "Hedonic Estimation under Very General Conditions Using Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs," IZA Discussion Papers 7554, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Nick Drydakis, 2010. "Ethnic Differences in Housing Opportunities in Athens," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(12), pages 2573-2596, November.
    14. Ili, Dragan, 2016. "Prejudice in Naturalization Decisions: Theory and Evidence," Working papers 2016/04, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    15. Zanoni, Wladimir & Díaz, Lina, 2024. "Discrimination against migrants and its determinants: Evidence from a Multi-Purpose Field Experiment in the Housing Rental Market," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Lee, Jungmin & Park, Sangkon, 2019. "Price discrimination by language: Field experimental evidence from a shopping mall," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 69-98.
    17. Shaun A. Bond & Michael D. Eriksen, 2021. "The role of parents on the home ownership experience of their children: Evidence from the health and retirement study," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(2), pages 433-458, June.
    18. Brady P. Horn & Jill J. Mccluskey & Ron C. Mittelhammer, 2014. "Quantifying Bias In Driving-Under-The-Influence Enforcement," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 269-284, January.
    19. Natalya Bikmetova & Geoffrey K. Turnbull & Velma Zahirovic‐Herbert, 2023. "Ethnicity in housing markets: Buyers, sellers and agents," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(1), pages 196-232, January.
    20. Mathieu Bunel & Samuel Gorohouna & Yannick L'Horty & Pascale Petit & Catherine Ris, 2016. "Discriminations Ethniques Dans L’Acces Au Logement: Une Experimentation En Nouvelle-Caledonie," Working Papers halshs-01374442, HAL.
    21. Andrew Hanson & Michael Santas, 2014. "Field Experiment Tests for Discrimination against Hispanics in the U.S. Rental Housing Market," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(1), pages 135-167, July.
    22. Ilić, Dragan, 2018. "Prejudice in naturalization decisions: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 1-18.
    23. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary, 2014. "Where does racial discrimination occur? An experimental analysis across neighborhood and housing unit characteristics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 94-106.
    24. Nick Drydakis, 2011. "Ethnic discrimination in the Greek housing market," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1235-1255, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • 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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