The presence of Airbnb offers high availability and local regulations for Airbnb

Abstract

With the end of the pandemic city, tourism is coming back, and so also Airbnb. However, locals are increasingly concerned that Airbnb leads to a displacement of long-term tenants and rising rents (Duso et al., 2022). In a Referendum in Bern (Switzerland) in February 2022, the citizens voted for regulations against Airbnb. This paper investigates the determinants of high-availability listings in Swiss cities. Several definitions of high-availability listings are provided (booked for more than 90 or 180 days per year). In particular, we investigate whether the announcement of new regulations leads to a decline in the active status of high-availability offerings. The data is based on the total number of Airbnb listings in Swiss cities, with about 30,000 properties per month in the 20 major cities.