New York Times Reports on Zervas and Byers’ Work on “Sharing Economy”

A new study by Institute Fellows Giorgos Zervas and John Byers, and their student Davide Proserpio demonstrates for the first time that the “sharing economy” is negatively impacting traditional business models. The study evaluated the impact of “apartment sharing”  through Airbnb on the traditional lodging industry, showing that for every 1 percent increase in the size of the Airbnb market (which offers millions of rentals around the world) hotel revenue slips 0.05 percent. An article on this study and its implications was published by New York Times Bits. Quoting Institute Junior Fellow Georgios Zervas, an assistant professor of marketing at Boston University, “Our study suggests that lower-tier hotels in dense Airbnb areas should be concerned, and if Airbnb keeps growing at the same rate, ‘fear’ might be a more accurate word.”

[NYT Bits Article] [Research Paper]