Spatial and Socioeconomic Analysis of Host Participation in the Shared Accommodation Economy – Airbnb in New York City

Abstract

Limited academic research has examined factors that motivate hosts in short-term homesharing platforms to participate in the shared accommodation workforce. To fill this gap, this paper examines socioeconomic antecedents, motivations, and spatial patterns of Airbnb host participation in New York City’s (NYC) shared accommodation marketplace. A conceptual model posits associations of demographic, socioeconomic, social capital, trust and greener consumption independent variables with host participation. The model is empirically validated for a large sample of NYC neighborhoods using OLS regressions. Regression findings indicate that host participation is associated with demographic variables – gender, age, and ethnic minorities; economic variables – median household income, households with a mortgage, and professional/scientific/technical services occupation; as well as attitude towards greener consumption. Descriptive mapping and cluster analysis reveal interesting spatial patterns of Airbnb property densities while the absence of associations of social capital and trust with host participation has interesting implications to understand motivations of the shared accommodation workforce.