{"title":"Is hiding my first name enough? Using behavioural interventions to mitigate racial and gender discrimination in the rental housing market","authors":"Helen XH Bao","doi":"10.1177/00420980241231712","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates whether behavioural interventions can reduce racial and gender discrimination in the rental housing market. In our correspondence tests, we incorporated two specific behavioural interventions: providing employment details to assist letting agents in overcoming statistical discrimination and incorporating anti-discrimination messages to encourage adherence to the ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ social norm. Although these strategies notably influenced the likelihood of prospective renters receiving responses to their housing inquiries, the outcomes were not consistent across genders or ethnic groups and were not always positive. Racial and gender discrimination in housing markets is a complex issue. There are no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions when using behavioural tools to address complex social problems such as racial and gender discrimination. Behavioural interventions demand rigorous field testing prior to widespread adoption.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Urban Studies","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980241231712","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates whether behavioural interventions can reduce racial and gender discrimination in the rental housing market. In our correspondence tests, we incorporated two specific behavioural interventions: providing employment details to assist letting agents in overcoming statistical discrimination and incorporating anti-discrimination messages to encourage adherence to the ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ social norm. Although these strategies notably influenced the likelihood of prospective renters receiving responses to their housing inquiries, the outcomes were not consistent across genders or ethnic groups and were not always positive. Racial and gender discrimination in housing markets is a complex issue. There are no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions when using behavioural tools to address complex social problems such as racial and gender discrimination. Behavioural interventions demand rigorous field testing prior to widespread adoption.
期刊介绍:
Urban Studies was first published in 1964 to provide an international forum of social and economic contributions to the fields of urban and regional planning. Since then, the Journal has expanded to encompass the increasing range of disciplines and approaches that have been brought to bear on urban and regional problems. Contents include original articles, notes and comments, and a comprehensive book review section. Regular contributions are drawn from the fields of economics, planning, political science, statistics, geography, sociology, population studies and public administration.