The impacts of quality and quantity attributes of Airbnb hosts on listing performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 2240-2260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Xie ◽  
Zhenxing Mao

Purpose With the prevalence of the sharing economy phenomenon, there are an increasing number of hosts on Airbnb who manage more than one listing. Managing more listings likely makes hosts more seasoned in terms of serving guests, but it may undermine host quality due to hosts’ constrained capability. This paper aims to examine the effects of host quality attributes and the number of listings per host on the reservation performance of these listings. Design/methodology/approach Using a large-scale but granular data set of 5,805 active listings of 4,608 Airbnb hosts in Austin, Texas, this study estimates the effects of host attributes (host quality and listing quantity) on the performance of the hosts’ Airbnb listings through a blend of regression models. Findings This study evidences that host quality attributes significantly influence listing performance through cue-based trust. In addition, this study finds a “trade-off” between host quality and the quantity of their listings. As the number of listings managed by a host increases, the performance effects of host quality diminish. Research limitations/implications The business implications of this study include the suggestion that sharing economy businesses such as Airbnb should sustain service quality through incentivizing hosts to improve host quality while balancing the quantity of listings managed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature through its meaningful theoretical extension in the sharing economy context and unique data-driven insights enabled by an analytical approach. It addresses the critical but less researched topic of host quality and listing quantity and generates important practical business and policy implications.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lam Hoang Viet Le ◽  
Toan Luu Duc Huynh ◽  
Bryan S. Weber ◽  
Bao Khac Quoc Nguyen

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on labor markets.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a large-scale survey on 16,000 firms from 82 industries in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and analyze the data set by using different machine-learning methods.FindingsFirst, job loss and reduction in state-owned enterprises have been significantly larger than in other types of organizations. Second, employees of foreign direct investment enterprises suffer a significantly lower labor income than those of other groups. Third, the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market are heterogeneous across industries and geographies. Finally, firms with high revenue in 2019 are more likely to adopt preventive measures, including the reduction of labor forces. The authors also find a significant correlation between firms' revenue and labor reduction as traditional econometrics and machine-learning techniques suggest.Originality/valueThis study has two main policy implications. First, although government support through taxes has been provided, the authors highlight evidence that there may be some additional benefit from targeting firms that have characteristics associated with layoffs or other negative labor responses. Second, the authors provide information that shows which firm characteristics are associated with particular labor market responses such as layoffs, which may help target stimulus packages. Although the COVID-19 pandemic affects most industries and occupations, heterogeneous firm responses suggest that there could be several varieties of targeted policies-targeting firms that are likely to reduce labor forces or firms likely to face reduced revenue. In this paper, the authors outline several industries and firm characteristics which appear to more directly be reducing employee counts or having negative labor responses which may lead to more cost–effect stimulus.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 2925-2944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linchi Kwok ◽  
Karen L. Xie

Purpose Buyers (renters) and sellers (hosts) on peer-to-peer (P2P) room-sharing websites make purchasing/selling decisions based on each other’s demographic information published in the cyber marketplace. Nevertheless, how this reciprocal selection based on the similarities between renters and hosts may lead to a successful P2P transaction of such services has not yet been discussed. Building on the similarity–attraction paradigm, this study assessed the similarity effects between renters and hosts on the likelihood of a P2P room-sharing transaction. Design/methodology/approach A logistical regression model was employed in analysis, using a large-scale, granular online observational data set collected from Xiaozhu.com, a primary home-sharing platform in China. Findings Renter–host similarities in age and education significantly affect the likelihood of a P2P room-sharing transaction. As the number of listings managed by a host increases, the effect of age similarity decreases. While a renter’s experience with a room-sharing website negatively moderates the similarity effect of age, it is a factor positively moderating the similarity effect of education. Research limitations/implications Other possible host–renter similarities were not analyzed due to the limitation of the data source. The reciprocal selection process for room-sharing services was acknowledged by integrating buyers’ and sellers’ data into one analysis. Practical implications Implications are advanced for the stakeholders of room-sharing business, including entrepreneurs running a room-sharing website, operators of short-term residential rentals and hoteliers. Originality/value This study represents a first attempt to research the buyer–seller similarity effects on the likelihood of a P2P transaction in sharing economy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1066-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Xie ◽  
Linchi Kwok ◽  
Jiang Wu

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of host attributes and travelers’ frequency of past stays and their interaction on the likelihood of repeat purchase of home-sharing services at both the host and listing levels. Design/methodology/approach A combination of econometrics analyses using a large-scale, granular online observational data set collected from a home-sharing platform was performed. Findings Travelers exhibit salient loyalty to home-sharing services. At the host level, host attributes including acceptance rate and listing capacity positively affect travelers’ likelihood of repeat purchase; such effects diminish as travelers’ frequency of past stays with a host/listing increases. At the listing level, confirmation efficiency and acceptance rate are critical, and travelers’ frequency of past stays matters. Research limitations/implications Responding to the call for more research on customer loyalty of sharing economy, this study instantiated on a home-sharing website in China and adds a unique perspective to the research domain, but its findings may not be generalized in other settings. Practical implications This study identifies the factors affecting customers’ repeat purchase behaviors at both the host and listing levels, allowing the hosts, webmasters of home-sharing websites and even hoteliers to advance specific tactics to promote repeat purchase among travelers. Originality/value Loyalty was measured with real-time internet-enabled observational data about travelers’ actual repeat purchase behavior on a home-sharing website, rather than assessing consumers’ behavioral intentions through the conventional survey method. Two specific levels of customer loyalty were analyzed, including the ones towards a service provider (host) and a service product (listing).


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darush Yazdanfar ◽  
Peter Öhman

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically investigate determinants of financial distress among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the global financial crisis and post-crisis periods.Design/methodology/approachSeveral statistical methods, including multiple binary logistic regression, were used to analyse a longitudinal cross-sectional panel data set of 3,865 Swedish SMEs operating in five industries over the 2008–2015 period.FindingsThe results suggest that financial distress is influenced by macroeconomic conditions (i.e. the global financial crisis) and, in particular, by various firm-specific characteristics (i.e. performance, financial leverage and financial distress in previous year). However, firm size and industry affiliation have no significant relationship with financial distress.Research limitationsDue to data availability, this study is limited to a sample of Swedish SMEs in five industries covering eight years. Further research could examine the generalizability of these findings by investigating other firms operating in other industries and other countries.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine determinants of financial distress among SMEs operating in Sweden using data from a large-scale longitudinal cross-sectional database.


2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Chen ◽  
Yiwei Jiang ◽  
Chengqi Wang ◽  
Wen Chung Hsu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how firm resources and diversification strategy explain the performance consequences of internationalization of emerging market enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – The paper conducts a regression analysis by using a novel panel data set comprising of 685 listed Chinese firms over the period of 2008-2011. Findings – The results show that the relationship between internationalization and performance is inverse U-shaped. Further, marketing resources play a greater role in enhancing the performance effects of internationalization than technological resources do. Related product diversification enhances the performance effects, while unrelated product diversification does the contrary. Research limitations/implications – The study focusses on listed firms in one country, and as a result, the findings cannot be generalized to non-listed firms and firms in other countries. Practical implications – This paper offers guidelines for international managers to improve performance of internationalization by developing a particular type of resources and diversification strategy. Originality/value – This paper extends the literature on the functional form of the internationalization-performance relationship, and further suggests that the analysis of the performance consequences of internationalization should go beyond the nexus between internationalization and performance, and focusses on firm-specific resources and strategies that may facilitate or constrain the performance effects of internationalization.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Yufeng Ma ◽  
Long Xia ◽  
Wenqi Shen ◽  
Mi Zhou ◽  
Weiguo Fan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is automatic classification of TV series reviews based on generic categories. Design/methodology/approach What the authors mainly applied is using surrogate instead of specific roles or actors’ name in reviews to make reviews more generic. Besides, feature selection techniques and different kinds of classifiers are incorporated. Findings With roles’ and actors’ names replaced by generic tags, the experimental result showed that it can generalize well to agnostic TV series as compared with reviews keeping the original names. Research limitations/implications The model presented in this paper must be built on top of an already existed knowledge base like Baidu Encyclopedia. Such database takes lots of work. Practical implications Like in digital information supply chain, if reviews are part of the information to be transported or exchanged, then the model presented in this paper can help automatically identify individual review according to different requirements and help the information sharing. Originality/value One originality is that the authors proposed the surrogate-based approach to make reviews more generic. Besides, they also built a review data set of hot Chinese TV series, which includes eight generic category labels for each review.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Hogan ◽  
Neil R. Meredith ◽  
Xuhao (Harry) Pan

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to replicate Avery and Berger’s (1991) analysis using data from 2001 through 2011. Although risk-based capital (RBC) regulation is a key component of US banking regulation, empirical evidence of the effectiveness of these regulations has been mixed. Among the first studies of RBC regulation, Avery and Berger (1991) provide evidence from data on US banks that new RBC regulations outperformed old capital regulations from 1982 through 1989. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from the Federal Reserve’s Call Reports, the authors compare banks’ capital ratios and RBC ratios to five measures of bank performance: income, standard deviation of income, non-performing loans, loan charge-offs and probability of failure. Findings – Consistent with Avery and Berger (1991), the authors find banks’ risk-weighted assets to be significant predictors of their future performance and that RBC ratios outperform regular capital ratios as predictors of risk. Originality/value – The study improves on Avery and Berger (1991) by using an updated data set from 2001 through 2011. The authors also discuss some potential limitations of this method of analysis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Moffatt

Purpose – This case example looks at how Deloitte Consulting applies the Three Rules synthesized by Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed based on their large-scale research project that identified patterns in the way exceptional companies think. Design/methodology/approach – The Three Rules concept is a key piece of Deloitte Consulting’s thought leadership program. So how are the three rules helping the organization perform? Now that research has shown how exceptional companies think, CEO Jim Moffatt could address the question, “Does Deloitte think like an exceptional company?” Findings – Deloitte has had success with an approach that promotes a bias towards non-price value over price and revenue over costs. Practical implications – It’s critical that all decision makers in an organization understand how decisions that are consistent with the three rules have contributed to past success as well as how they can apply the rules to difficult challenges they face today. Originality/value – This is the first case study written from a CEO’s perspective that looks at how the Three Rules approach of Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed can foster a firm’s growth and exceptional performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wajid Shakeel Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Sohaib ◽  
Jamal Maqsood ◽  
Ateeb Siddiqui

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine if intraday week (IDW) effect of the currencies reflect leverage and asymmetric impact in currencies market. The study data set comprises of intraday patterns of 15 currencies from developed and emerging economies. Design methodology approach The study applies the exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (E-GARCH) model technique to observe the IDW leverage and asymmetric effect after introducing hourly dummies variables, namely, IDWmon, IDWwed, IDWfrid and IDWfrid-mon. Findings The study results favor the propositions and confirm that IDW effect do exist in the international forex markets in relation to hourly trading pattern for respective currencies. Mostly, currencies do depreciate on Monday and Wednesday compared to the rest of the days. However, on the last trading day, i.e. Friday currencies observe an appreciation pattern which is for both economies. The results have an evidence of leverage and asymmetric effect confirmed by the E-GARCH model as a result of press releases and influence by micro-factors in the currency markets. Practical implications The study believes to have theoretical connection related to the better understanding of currencies trend for developed and emerging economies, as the IDW effect exists. Moreover, confirmation of both the leverage and asymmetric effect in observed currencies would be able to assist the investors in making rational choices during the trading hours and would confirm considerable profits through profit incentivized strategies. Originality value The study not only add knowledge to the previous study work in relation to the hourly trading pattern of currencies with reference to the IDW effects but also highlights the leverage and asymmetric effect in currencies that will help in formulating future trading strategies particular to emerging economies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martinson Ankrah Twumasi ◽  
Yuansheng Jiang ◽  
Salina Adhikari ◽  
Caven Adu Gyamfi ◽  
Isaac Asare

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the determinants of rural dwellers financial literacy in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional primary data set was used to estimate the factors influencing rural farm households' financial literacy using the IV-Tobit model.FindingsThe findings reveal that most rural residents are financially illiterate. The econometrics model results depicted that respondents' socioeconomic and demographic characteristics such as gender, income, age and education significantly affect financial literacy. Again, respondents who are risk seekers and listen or watch education programs are more likely to be financially literate.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper examined the determinants of rural dwellers financial literacy in four regions in Ghana. Future research should consider all or many regions for an informed generalization of findings.Practical implicationsThis paper provides evidence that rural dwellers are financially illiterate and it would require the policymakers or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to establish a village or community group that comprises a wide range of bankers and government officials to help rural dwellers acquire some financial skills. Also, the positive relationship between media (whether respondent watches or listens to educational programs) and financial literacy implies that policymakers should focus on improving individuals' financial knowledge through training programs and utilize the media as a channel to propagate financial education to the public.Originality/valueAlthough previous studies have examined the determinants of financial literacy, little is known in developing countries and, in particular, rural communities. The authors fill this gap by contributing to the scanty existing literature in developing countries in several ways. First, this is the first study to examine the financial literacy level of rural dwellers in Ghana. Second, to not undermine the credibility of the estimation results, this study addresses the potential endogeneity issue, which other researchers have not adequately recognized. Finally, the study expands the scant literature on the subject and provides critical policy implications that will help policymakers formulate financial market policies that will contribute to rural dwellers financial literacy enhancement.


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