Reducing racial discrimination in the sharing economy: Empirical results from Airbnb

2022 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 103151
Author(s):  
Leihan Zhang ◽  
Shengyu Xiong ◽  
Le Zhang ◽  
Lin Bai ◽  
Qiang Yan
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Empirical Results

scholarly journals Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Edelman ◽  
Michael Luca ◽  
Dan Svirsky
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Current Design ◽  
Rental Markets

In an experiment on Airbnb, we find that applications from guests with distinctively African American names are 16 percent less likely to be accepted relative to identical guests with distinctively white names. Discrimination occurs among landlords of all sizes, including small landlords sharing the property and larger landlords with multiple properties. It is most pronounced among hosts who have never had an African American guest, suggesting only a subset of hosts discriminate. While rental markets have achieved significant reductions in discrimination in recent decades, our results suggest that Airbnb's current design choices facilitate discrimination and raise the possibility of erasing some of these civil rights gains. (JEL C93, J15, L83)

scholarly journals Racial discrimination in the sharing economy: Evidence from Airbnb markets across the world

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastian Jaeger ◽  
Willem Sleegers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
The World

Online peer-to-peer platforms aim to reduce anonymity and increase trust by displaying personal information about sellers. However, consumers may also rely on the names and profile photos of sellers to avoid sellers from certain social groups. Here we analyze more than 100,000 Airbnb rentals to test whether consumers discriminate against hosts from racial minorities. If consumers prefer to stay with a White host, then hosts from racial minorities should be able to charger lower prices for similar rentals. In Study 1, we analyzed 96,150 Airbnb listings across 24 cities, 14 countries, and 3 continents and found that non-White hosts charge 2.74% lower prices for qualitatively similar rentals. In Study 2, a preregistered analysis of 12,648 listings across 14 cities in the United States showed that, compared to White hosts, Black hosts charge 7.39% lower prices and Asian hosts charge 5.94% lower prices. Even though the magnitude of the price penalties varied, they emerged consistently across most cities. In sum, the current findings suggest that there is widespread discrimination against Airbnb hosts from racial minorities.

Understanding the Employment Status of Gig-Workers in China’s Sharing Economy Era–An Empirical Legal Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanyun Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Legal Study ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Domestic Practices ◽  
Employment Legislation

Abstract The prevalence of the Internet Plus model and mobile applications have brought people into the era of sharing economy, thus accelerating the generation of the “gig-worker.” Foreign experiences have tended to classify gig-workers as employees or as an additional employment category. However, reviewing China’s domestic practices, employment legislation is not enough to keep up with this innovative working style because the work classification and supporting mechanisms for gig-workers have not yet been explicated. This paper identifies the major types of gig-workers that have arisen and investigates 110 court cases to better understand the employment status of gig-workers in China. The empirical results indicate that the judgements of similar facts are diverse in the absence of a unified employment standard. Therefore, it is recommended that the work classification of gig-workers be clarified, lawful access to benefit plans and work protection system be safeguarded, and burden of accident liabilities be fairly distributed.

Neuroscience and Ethics

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Matthew Liao
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Joshua Greene

Abstract. A number of people believe that results from neuroscience have the potential to settle seemingly intractable debates concerning the nature, practice, and reliability of moral judgments. In particular, Joshua Greene has argued that evidence from neuroscience can be used to advance the long-standing debate between consequentialism and deontology. This paper first argues that charitably interpreted, Greene’s neuroscientific evidence can contribute to substantive ethical discussions by being part of an epistemic debunking argument. It then argues that taken as an epistemic debunking argument, Greene’s argument falls short in undermining deontological judgments. Lastly, it proposes that accepting Greene’s methodology at face value, neuroimaging results may in fact call into question the reliability of consequentialist judgments. The upshot is that Greene’s empirical results do not undermine deontology and that Greene’s project points toward a way by which empirical evidence such as neuroscientific evidence can play a role in normative debates.

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