Noisebnb: An Empirical Analysis of Home Sharing Platforms and Noise Complaints

Abstract

Digital multisided platforms and their societal implications are increasingly attracting attention from scholars. In this prior work, the predominant focus has been on platform participants, with little consideration given other market actors who coexist with the platform, but do not participate in it directly. In this study, we investigate one aspect of the changing economy subject to considerable theoretical ambiguity: the effects of peer-to-peer home sharing on noise complaints, a growing problem associated with urban living. Leveraging the phased expansion of home sharing platform Airbnb into different locations at different times, and a differences-in-differences approach, we find that the entry of Airbnb is associated with a significant decrease in the rate at which city residents file residential noise complaints. This is striking, given the assumption made by academic literature, industry and government reports, and the popular press that externalities will be negative. This significant decrease is intensified further in locations where a material number of tourist attractions exists, suggesting the effect is driven by limited physical occupancy of residential housing. Corroborating this finding, we observe a significant increase in street noise following the entry of Airbnb, indicating that noise moves out of residential space and into streets where tourist attractions mostly take place.