On Airbnb it pays to be a professional

ANN ARBOR-In the sharing economy, it's best not to do it yourself. Jun Li, a University of Michigan business technology and operations professor, and colleagues analyzed listings on Airbnb and found striking differences between rentals managed by professional hosts and those managed by nonprofessional hosts. Li, along with Antonio Moreno and Dennis Zhang of Northwestern University, found after analyzing Airbnb listings in Chicago that the professional hosts earned nearly 17 percent more in daily revenue. The researchers found that properties listed on Airbnb and managed by professional hosts had 15.5 percent higher occupancy rates, and were 13.6 percent less likely to exit the market compared with properties owned by nonprofessional hosts, even after controlling for property and market characteristics. Hosts join with the expectation they will make good money by offering their properties through a platform. However, when they realize it doesn't live up to their expectations, they will become inactive or leave the market completely. And that could have a crushing effect on sharing platforms.