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| | + | {{Summary |
| | + | |title=Racial And Gender Discrimination In Transportation Network Companies |
| | + | |authors=Yanbo Ge, Christopher R. Knittel, Don MacKenzie, Stephen Zoepf |
| | + | |tags=Race, Gender, Discrimination |
| | + | |summary=Are some drivers on platforms like Uber and Lyft discriminating |
| | + | against passengers on the basis of race and gender? If so, through |
| | + | what methods? Researchers from the University of Washington, MIT, and |
| | + | Stanford University sought to answer this question through two |
| | + | large-scale randomized control trials in Seattle and Boston. |
| | | | |
| | + | There are well-documented accounts of discrimination by taxi drivers |
| | + | against passengers. On the other hand, the rapid development of apps |
| | + | like Uber and Lyft has outpaced the public's understanding of |
| | + | social issues related to them. Thus, it is less clear whether or |
| | + | not discrimination is occuring on ride-sharing platforms. |
| | + | |
| | + | To answer this question, a team of researchers designed a randomized |
| | + | control trial that was performed in Seattle and Boston. Participants |
| | + | of different racial backgrounds with "African-American sounding" |
| | + | names and "white sounding" names were recruited and instructed to hail |
| | + | a ride for a randomly-assigned, pre-determined route. |
| | + | |
| | + | The participants took a screenshot of their app at various parts of |
| | + | the trip: 1) when the ride was requested, 2) when the ride was accepted by |
| | + | the driver, 3) when the driver arrives, and 4) when the passenger is |
| | + | dropped off at the end of the trip. From these screenshots, |
| | + | information like waiting times, travel times, cancellation rates, and |
| | + | ratings that drivers gave the passengers were recorded. The |
| | + | researchers assert that if discrimination is occuring, then some of |
| | + | this information would look different between passengers of different |
| | + | races and/or genders. |
| | + | |
| | + | African-American passengers (both male and female) in Seattle waited for a |
| | + | statistically-significant longer time to have a trip accepted through |
| | + | UberX and Lyft. Furthermore, African-American passengers in Seattle waited |
| | + | notably longer for an UberX driver to pick them up at a given |
| | + | location, but it's unclear if this was statistically |
| | + | significant. Lastly, male passengers with "African-American" sounding |
| | + | names in Boston were three times more likely to have their ride canceled |
| | + | by a driver after the drivers were able to see the passengers' names. Put |
| | + | together, these findings suggest that some drivers on UberX and Lyft |
| | + | are actively discriminating against passengers on the basis of race. |
| | + | |
| | + | Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more |
| | + | employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market |
| | + | discrimination. American Economic Review, 94(4), 991-1013. |
| | + | |
| | + | Levitt, S. (2004). The Causes and Consequences of Distinctly Black |
| | + | Names. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 119, 967-805. |
| | + | |relevance=This research shows that discrimination is actively being practiced by drivers on popular ride-sharing platforms. After showing how this is occurring, the authors make a number of recommendations for how these companies can combat it. |
| | + | |journal=National Bureau of Economic Research |
| | + | |pub_date=2016 |
| | + | |subject=Sociology |
| | + | }} |
