Equal access denied: analyzing gender discrimination in rental housing

Purpose In this article, we analyze the tenant selection of landlords in the Swiss property rental market, with a particular focus on gender differences. We concentrate on the rental markets in Geneva and Zurich. This topic has gained significance in recent years, as the scarcity of housing supply in these markets leaves room for discriminatory practices. Design/methodology/approach We collect data through a correspondence testing approach. We focus on two market segments rental apartments and shared flats. Based on this data, we analyze differences in landlord responses between females and males using logistic regression models. Findings Our analysis reveals evidence for gender differences in the Swiss rental market, however, these gender differences cancel each other out at the aggregated level as we find evidence of discrimination against both men and women, depending on segment and location. Consistent with theories that suggest that women are perceived as less financially strong, they seem to be at a disadvantage for rental apartments. However, they are more popular tenants in shared flats. Originality/value While gender discrimination has been studied extensively in many fields of economics, including labor economics and real estate markets, our study contributes to the real estate literature by covering the market segments of shared flats together with rental apartments, uncovering differences across market segments, and studying a rental housing market with particularly scarce supply.