How the sharing economy affects local housing and tourist markets

For tourist destinations, the peer-to-peer sharing-economy platform Airbnb is a double-edged sword. It provides income and taxes to municipalities, but the prevalence of a substantial number of Airbnb providers may lead to bottlenecks in rental housing markets. Regional planners and policy-makers in Norway and across the world have therefore begun to consider imposing restrictions to regulate this hitherto unregulated business model.

Airbnb's main webpage displayed on a smartphone that lies on a laptop

Fotoillustrasjon: Colourbox.com

With Evgueni Vinogradov, Nordlandsforskning, Bjørnar Karlsen Kivedal and Birgit Leick published an article in Tourism Management that investigates the link between housing-market regulation and the growth of Airbnb, based upon Norwegian Airbnb listings and agent-based modelling.

  • The article suggest that Airbnb's current growth will be associated with a series of instabilities with sudden crises and subsequent quick recoveries, putting stress on local rental markets.
  • Moderate taxation may contribute to a more even distribution of Airbnb listings in Norway, notably across the urban space, and prevent bottlenecks in the local housing and tourist markets.
  • The article is related to the project Digital Entrepreneurship in the Nordic Sharing Economy that members from the research group Business Development and Governance conducted between 2018 and 2019.
Publisert 15. okt. 2019 09:03 - Sist endret 10. mars 2022 13:18