Do Foreigners Pay Higher Rents for the Same Quality of Housing in Geneva and Zurich?

Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics Vol. 144, No. 4, pp. 703-730, 2008

28 Pages Posted: 4 Jul 2011

See all articles by Andrea Baranzini

Andrea Baranzini

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration

Caroline Schaerer

Geneva School of Business Administration

José V. Ramirez

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration

Philippe Thalmann

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Date Written: July 4, 2007

Abstract

The Geneva and Zurich housing markets are characterized by high proportions of foreigners and a large share of rental housing. This provides ideal conditions for testing whether foreigners pay more for the same quality of housing than Swiss households and whether flats in neighborhoods with higher proportions of foreigners rent at a discount. Hedonic price equations using a rich dataset on dwellings and their occupants yield evidence of such discrimination and prejudice. They also suggest more complex relationships between tenant nationality, housing and neighborhood quality, and rents.

Keywords: price discrimination, rental housing market, segregation, switzerland

Suggested Citation

Baranzini, Andrea and Schaerer, Caroline and Ramirez, José V. and Thalmann, Philippe, Do Foreigners Pay Higher Rents for the Same Quality of Housing in Geneva and Zurich? (July 4, 2007). Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics Vol. 144, No. 4, pp. 703-730, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1878506

Andrea Baranzini (Contact Author)

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration ( email )

CH-1227 Geneva
Switzerland
+41-22-388 1718 (Phone)
+41-22-388 1701 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://campus.hesge.ch/baranzia/

Caroline Schaerer

Geneva School of Business Administration ( email )

CH-1227 Geneva
Switzerland

José V. Ramirez

University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - Geneva School of Business Administration ( email )

CH-1227 Geneva
Switzerland

Philippe Thalmann

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) ( email )

EPFL ENAC IA LEURE
Station 16
Lausanne, CH-1015
Switzerland
+41 21 693 7321 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://people.epfl.ch/philippe.thalmann

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