Is the Rental Market Gay-friendly? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Last registered on March 23, 2019
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Is the Rental Market Gay-friendly? Evidence from a Field Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003997
Initial registration date
March 21, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 23, 2019, 8:18 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Portugal
Region
Lisbon

Primary Investigator

Name
Tiago Bernardino
Affiliation
NOVA School of Business and Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Patrícia Filipe
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Sandra Maximiano
PI Affiliation
Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão
Contact Investigator
PI Name
João Pereira dos Santos
PI Affiliation
NOVA School of Business and Economics
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2018-03-01
End date
2019-08-31
Keywords
Gender
Additional Keywords
discrimination, housing market, e-mails, Lisbon
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This paper reports the results of a large field experiment that we designed and conducted to investigate gay discrimination in the rental market. Using a popular Portuguese housing rental website, we randomly selected properties in Lisbon and its suburban areas. We then sent four different emails to each landlord, which vary in two dimensions: length (short vs. long) and sexual orientation (heterosexual vs homosexual couple) communicated in the e-mail signature.
We believe that our findings will point out the importance of exploring LGBT discrimination in greater detail. This can only be done with proper identification strategies that reveal hidden discriminatory practices to better orient future public policies.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bernardino, Tiago et al. 2019. "Is the Rental Market Gay-friendly? Evidence from a Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. March 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3997-1.0
Former Citation
Bernardino, Tiago et al. 2019. "Is the Rental Market Gay-friendly? Evidence from a Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. March 23. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3997/history/43968
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2019-03-21
Intervention End Date
2019-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We will analyse three dummy variables and a continuous indicator: i) whether the landlord responded; ii) whether the landlord answers with an invitation to visit the house; iii) the number of characters in the landlord’s answer e-mail; and iv) whether the landlord sent a second email.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We developed a field experiment where 4 fictitious couples (2 gay couples and 2 heterosexual couples) send an email to a landlord that is renting a house. The emails not only change in terms of sexual orientation (gay vs. hetero) but also in length (short vs long email). The longer e-mails comprise information concerning the job status and highlighted that the couple had no children or pets. The sending order as well as the characteristics in the longer e-mail are randomized in this 2X2 design. We use common male or female Portuguese names in the signature of the e-mail to communicate the sexual orientation of the couple in a subtle way to the landlord.
The new data will be gathered collecting real e-mails for the Lisbon NUTS 2 area from the most used website: www.imovirtual.pt
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We will cluster the standard errors by the respondent. Moreover, in our most demanding specifications, we will include fixed effects at the respondent-level (i.e., landlord or real estate agent). Therefore, these regressions will exploit within responses by these agents, considering several possible confounders. We plan to send to 100 real estate agents and 400 for private announced properties (the replication of the first analysis)
Sample size: planned number of observations
In our first analysis we sent 373*4 e-mails. We will compare the stability of the point estimates with a bigger sample. Power analysis will be preformed.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each landlord/real estate agent receives 4 times the same email. We will have 4 groups with the same size.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
NOVA School of Business and Economics
IRB Approval Date
2019-03-12
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials