The Council of Appeal (Ankestyrelsen), directed by Jonas Herby and Ulrik Haagen Nielsen, Omfanget af forskelsbehandling af nydanskere - Et felteksperiment på lejeboligmarkedet (Scope of Discrimination Against Migrants - A Field Experiment on the Rental
Country
Denmark
Title
Year
Type of publication
Geographical coverage
Local
Area/location of interest
Type of Institution
Public authority
Institution
Main Thematic Focus
Discrimination
Target Population
Migrants People with migrant background
Key findings
This mapping aimed at examining whether applicants for rental housing with an ordinary Middle Eastern-sounding name, would find it more difficult to obtain housing than applicants with an ordinary Danish-sounding name. The mapping found that applicants with Middle Eastern-sounding names had to send 27 % more applications on average than applicants with Danish-sounding names in order to have the same chances of receiving a positive reply on an application.
Furthermore, the results of the mapping indicated that the differential treatment was based on expectations, which means that the landlords had lower expectations to this group than to identical applicants with Danish-sounding names.
Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)
Field experiment where more than 1.300 applications from applicants with different profiles were sent. These fictional applicants for rental housing varied randomly in ethnicity which was implicitly indicated by the name of each applicant. The extent of the differential treatment of applicants for rental housing with a Middle Eastern-sounding name was defined in the mapping as the difference between the share of positive replies that the group of applicants with Middle Eastern-sound names gets and the group of applicants with Danish-sound names gets.
Sample details and representativeness
Eight fictional persons were developed as the persons seeking rental housing. Four with Middle Eastern-sounding names and four with Danish-sounding names. From these profiles 1.374 applications were sent. The applications had the exact same content with the name as an exception.