Quality Signals on Airbnb: A Hedonic Regression Approach

Franziska Löw and Hendrik Lüth ()
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Hendrik Lüth: Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Postal: Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg, Department of Economics, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043 Hamburg

No 189/2021, Working Paper from Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg

Abstract: This study aims at identifying guests’ willingness to pay for characteristics of listings on Airbnb, putting a particular emphasis on trust-building information provided by the platform. In order to do so, a hedonic regression model is applied to an extensive dataset that was gathered in 2017 from Airbnb’s website and encompasses listings from seven major German cities, namely Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Dresden, Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main. Our results regarding tangible characteristics are mostly in line with expectations: Additional space and certain amenities increase the value of a listing. The same holds true for an accommodation’s distance to the city center, although we find proof for a non-linear relationship. Results for trust-building factors on the other hand are mixed. While favorable review scores and membership duration have a positive effect on prices, we cannot establish such a relationship for “superhost” and “verified ID” badges. In contrast to other studies, which are, however, focused on the US, we cannot find price differences linked to hosts’ gender or ethnicity. Using an extended data set that encompasses listings from 2007 to 2008, we furthermore construct hedonic price indices for all seven cities, which suggest supply shifts due to regulatory pressure.

Keywords: airbnb; sharing economy; hedonic models; GLM; rental markets; price indices; real estate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L11 L14 L86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2021-05-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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