The price of landlords’ racial and ethnic discrimination: Analyzing the Malaysian rental housing market

Source abstract

Racial and ethnic discrimination represents a structural cause of payment disparities across groups. However, most studies focus on Western contexts and may overlook the distinctive sociohistorical dynamics that shape discriminatory behaviors. In Malaysia, where racial and ethnic relations have been influenced by a distinct colonial legacy and multicultural social fabric, landlords’ discriminatory practices have manifested differently. This study reveals two novel mechanisms explaining racial and ethnic rent disparities in the Malaysian rental housing market: (i) taste-based discrimination, where landlords offer lower rents to tenants of the same race and ethnicity, and (ii) statistical discrimination, evidenced by Chinese tenants paying higher rents than tenants of other races and ethnicities, regardless of a landlord’s race and ethnicity. These results highlight the need for greater policy attention to racial and ethnic disparities in the rental housing market and to the broader socio-economic inequalities that underpin them. By examining Malaysia’s unique context, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of racial and ethnic rent disparities and provides valuable insights to inform more inclusive and equitable housing policies.