Publications
Publications
- 2023
- HBS Working Paper Series
Scapegoating and Discrimination in Times of Crisis: Evidence from Airbnb
By: Michael Luca, Elizaveta Pronkina and Michelangelo Rossi
Abstract
We present evidence that discrimination against Asian-American Airbnb users sharply increased at the
start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a DiD approach, we find that hosts with distinctively Asian
names experienced a 20 percent decline in guests relative to hosts with distinctively White names. In
contrast, we do not see spikes in discrimination against Black or Hispanic hosts. Our results suggest that
the rise in anti-Asian sentiment in 2020 translated to discrimination in economic activity, highlighting
the ways in which scapegoating minority groups can shape markets. Our results also point to the role of
platform design choices in enabling discrimination.
Keywords
Discrimination; Behavioral Economics; Market Design; Health Pandemics; Prejudice and Bias; Digital Platforms; Design
Citation
Luca, Michael, Elizaveta Pronkina, and Michelangelo Rossi. "Scapegoating and Discrimination in Times of Crisis: Evidence from Airbnb." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-012, August 2022. (Revised March 2023.)