The Impact of Statistical Discrimination in Shared Housing Markets: A Correspondence Study on Ethnic Discrimination in Germany

Abstract

Existing research found strong and convincing evidence of ethnic discrimination in housing markets in almost all Western countries (Pager & Shepherd, 2008). This also holds for Germany, where particularly applicants with Turkish or Arabic names face severe discrimination. In large German cities applicants with Turkish names get up to 16 percentage points fewer responses than applicants with German names (Auspurg, Hinz, & Schmid, 2017). However, almost all of these studies look at "traditional" housing markets, where a landlord rents a flat to a family or individuals. Another segment of the housing market is mostly ignored, even though it has become increasingly common: Shared housing. About five million Germans are currently living in shared flats (Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach, 2017, p. 12). Discrimination in this market likely differs from other housing markets because of differences in the recruiting process and differences in the rationales and composition of tenants.