Ride with me - Ethnic discrimination, social markets, and the sharing economy

Jasper Dag Tjaden*, Carsten Schwemmer, Menusch Khadjavi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We study ethnic discrimination in the sharing economy using the example of online carpooling marketplaces. Based on a unique data set of 16,624 real rides from Germany, we estimate the effects of drivers' perceived name origins on the demand for rides. The results show sizable ethnic discrimination - a discriminatory price premium of about 32 per cent of the average market price. Further analyses suggest that additional information about actors in this market decreases the magnitude of ethnic discrimination. Our findings broaden the perspective of ethnic discrimination by shedding light on subtle, everyday forms of discrimination in social markets, inform ongoing discussions about ways to address discrimination in an era in which markets gradually move online, and respond to increasingly recognized limitations of experimental approaches to study discrimination.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)418-432
Number of pages15
JournalEuropean Sociological Review
Volume34
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2018
Externally publishedYes

Funding

For some periods during the research conducted for this paper, Jasper Dag Tjaden was financially supported by the German Research Foundation through their Excellence Initiative and the Fulbright Commission.

FundersFunder number
US-UK Fulbright Commission
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

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