Airbnb hosts discriminate against African-Americans, study shows

[KamaAina]

http://national.suntimes.com/national-world-news/7/72/2274436/airbnb-host-discriminate-study

Americans have said that racism is one of the biggest problems facing the country, and a new study shows that it’s also a problem facing home-sharing platform Airbnb.

The study, conducted by the Harvard Business School, found that people with names that were perceived to be African-American had a 16 percent lower acceptance rate than those with names that were perceived to be white....

Researchers conducted the study by creating 20 Airbnb accounts without pictures. They all were identical, except for the name, and they then sent approximately 6,400 messages in Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington D.C. between July 7, 2015 and July 30....

“Overall, we find widespread discrimination against African-American guests,” researchers Benjamin Edelman, Michael Luca and Dan Svirsky wrote in their report. “(The) roughly 16 percent penalty for African-American guests is particularly noteworthy when compared to the discrimination-free setting of competing short-term accommodation platforms such as Expedia. The penalty is consistent with the racial gap found in contexts ranging from labor markets to online lending to classified ads to taxicabs.”

I'm shocked. Shocked!

[randys1]

1. I dont believe it, hell, right here on DU I am told racism is pretty much fixed.

And if not fixed it is something we really shouldnt bother with, aint that big a deal, you see.

[Scootaloo]

2. Where on Du were you told that?

[KamaAina]

3. I think he forgot this

[randys1]

5. Nope, he is serious, and yet he doesnt get the irony of his answer, does he.

[KittyWampus]

4. Ah, but libertarian leaning DU'ers LOVE Uber and Airbnb cause it saves them money.

those of us in the industry that have to file taxes, pass Fire & Health inspections yearly, pay for adequate insurance are getting hosed with this unregulated cr*p.

[Retrograde]

6. Some forms of housing discrimination are legal

Mainly owner-occupied single-family housing. The problem is that airbnb wants it both ways: it likes to pretend its suppliers are just plain folks renting out a spare room when many properties are run like a business and should be treated as such.