Discrimination against the atypical type of tenants in the Tokyo private rental housing market: Evidence from moving-in inspection and rent arrear records

Abstract

This paper documents the discrimination against the ‘atypical’ type of tenants in the Tokyo private rental housing market, using tenant-level records on the moving-in inspection process and future rent arrears, which go beyond previous experimental and audit studies on the availability of listing rental properties. We exhibit discrimination in that atypical tenants (e.g., single elderlies, single mothers, and foreigners) are likely to be rejected at the moving-in inspection, even after controlling for their estimated probability of getting into rent arrears using observable traits of individual tenants, including payment ability measures. This can be taste-based and/or statistical discrimination, the latter of which reflects the other potential costs for owners to accommodate atypical tenants, such as the risk of getting into trouble with neighbors. More specifically, statistical discrimination based on their high risk of rent arrears does not exist clearly, as much as the risk is explained by their observable traits, including their weak payment ability. Moreover, the study illustrates that the probability of acceptance at the moving-in inspection is reduced by unreasonable moving behaviors—a move to a place that does not require a moderate commuting distance, a move within the same community, and an increase in commuting distance than before, and in units with low rental costs.