Price and prejudice: Gender discrimination in online marketplaces

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Asad, Sher Afghan; Ahmad, Husnain Fateh; Majid, Hadia
• 署名单位: Lahore University of Management Sciences; Trinity University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103540
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: discrimination; Online-marketplaces; Taste-based discrimination; statistical discrimination; Harassment; Language-processing

摘要

We investigate gender discrimination in an online marketplace in Pakistan. Employing buyer profiles that signal gender, we experimentally engage in transactions with sellers on the platform. We find no evidence of discrimination in pricing or product quality, suggesting that digital marketplaces may neutralize traditional economic biases. However, significant gender differences persist in non-price interactions. Female buyers are significantly more likely to receive unsolicited messages and friend requests following transactions, primarily from male accounts. Linguistic analysis further reveals that male sellers exhibit greater verbosity, enthusiasm, and flirtatiousness towards female buyers. While these interactions may not constitute overt harassment, in conservative and patriarchal settings, such unsolicited contact-regardless of intent-can carry reputational and social costs for women. Our findings highlight that online marketplaces, even as they remove discrimination on economic outcomes, may pose subtle barriers to equitable participation.