All told, the “African-American” names got positive responses 42% of the time, while names that sounded more “white” were accepted 50% of the time. “(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. Many of these hosts are homeowners seeking to rent out their home or a room. They then reached out to the hosts of 6,400 listings across five cities. Researches faulted Airbnb’s design decisions in that study as well. They added that the results were consistent with similar incidents of discrimination found across contexts as diverse as booking taxis and being hired for jobs.
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“We recognize that bias and discrimination are significant challenges, and we welcome the opportunity to work with anyone that can help us reduce potential discrimination in the Airbnb community”, he said. Critics of Airbnb’s site point out that the use of profile photos has always been understood to be a means by which discrimination can be manifested in online services.
In response to the study, an Airbnb spokesman said that” “We are committed to making Airbnb one of the most open, trusted, diverse, transparent communities in the world.
Launching a report on the impacts of home-sharing in Ireland, Airbnb head of public policy Patrick Robinson said the company has been in talks with officials from various Government departments as recently as within the last few weeks, and one topic seemingly up for debate is the level of tax paid by Airbnb hosts.
But the trio of researchers behind Harvard Business School’s study said such levels of detail only encouraged discrimination as hosts rejected applicants who did not match their idea of a suitable guest.
Yet the Harvard prof offered a pretty easy fix: “conceal guest names”.
And get this, it’s not just White folks hating on Black folks, there are plenty of Black folks hating on Black folks.
There’s also a downside for property owners who turn down bookings from black customers, the newest study found. By skipping out on a potential guest because of racial assumptions, the host can sometimes fail to find another guest to fill the calendar, ending up with a loss of $65 to $100 in revenue. “Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment”, by B. Edelman et al.
“Discrimination is costly for hosts who indulge in it: hosts who reject African-American guests are able to find a replacement guest only 35 percent of the time”, they wrote.
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“Nobody at Airbnb was thinking to themselves, ‘let’s build a platform where we could discriminate, ‘” says Luca, one of the co-authors. “Yet, this is commonplace on Airbnb, which now accounts for a growing share of the hotel market”. Because online marketplaces have legal protections, it’s unlikely that Airbnb might be held liable. And it also persists regardless of price or whether the rented place is shared by the host or not.
