Sharing inequalities: Racial discrimination in review acquisition on Airbnb

Abstract

Online reviews are found to mitigate racial discrimination in the sharing economy, but we argue that the chance of getting reviews is unequal for suppliers/workers of difference races. We test this logic with 16,674 hosts and 396,923 reviews on Airbnb in New York City. We find that the majority hosts (i.e. White) acquire their first review and third review (enough to trigger the publication of aggregate rating) more quickly than minority hosts (i.e. Asian and Black). However, setting listings instantly bookable helps reduce the racial difference in review acquisition. Our analyses also reveal that compared with Asian or Black hosts, White hosts receive higher aggregate ratings and more positive reviews at early stage of review acquisition. Such racial difference attenuates over time as the number of reviews increases. Our findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of racial discrimination against minorities in the sharing economy.