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  • All HBS Web  (30)
    • News  (10)
    • Research  (17)
    • Events  (1)
  • Faculty Publications  (7)

Show Results For

  • All HBS Web  (30)
    • News  (10)
    • Research  (17)
    • Events  (1)
  • Faculty Publications  (7)
Page 1 of 30 Results →
  • September–October 2021
  • Article

Frontiers: Can an AI Algorithm Mitigate Racial Economic Inequality? An Analysis in the Context of Airbnb

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Nitin Mehta, Param Singh and Kannan Srinivasan
We study the effect of Airbnb’s smart-pricing algorithm on the racial disparity in the daily revenue earned by Airbnb hosts. Our empirical strategy exploits Airbnb’s introduction of the algorithm and its voluntary adoption by hosts as a quasi-natural experiment. Among... View Details
Keywords: Smart Pricing; Pricing Algorithm; Machine Bias; Discrimination; Racial Disparity; Social Inequality; Airbnb Revenue; Revenue; Race; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Price; Mathematical Methods; Accommodations Industry
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Zhang, Shunyuan, Nitin Mehta, Param Singh, and Kannan Srinivasan. "Frontiers: Can an AI Algorithm Mitigate Racial Economic Inequality? An Analysis in the Context of Airbnb." Marketing Science 40, no. 5 (September–October 2021): 813–820.
  • 26 Feb 2018
  • Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

FangXiaNuo Airbnb is revolutionizing the lodging market by keeping hotel rates in check and making additional rooms available in the country's hottest travel spots during peak periods when hotel rooms often sell out and rates skyrocket, a new study shows. That's bad... View Details
Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Travel
  • 17 Apr 2018
  • News

Don't Blame Airbnb for Rising Rents

  • May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
  • Case

Airbnb During the Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism Faces a Critical Test

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison Ciechanover
As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Digital Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Service Industry; United States
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Esty, Benjamin C., and Allison Ciechanover. "Airbnb During the Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism Faces a Critical Test." Harvard Business School Case 221-050, May 2021. (Revised August 2021.)
  • July 2021 (Revised August 2021)
  • Supplement

Airbnb Emerges from the Pandemic: Lessons for Stakeholder Governance (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison M. Ciechanover
As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details
Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Two-Sided Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Service Industry; United States
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Esty, Benjamin C., and Allison M. Ciechanover. "Airbnb Emerges from the Pandemic: Lessons for Stakeholder Governance (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 222-003, July 2021. (Revised August 2021.) (To be taught in September 2021.)
  • 25 May 2021
  • Research & Ideas

White Airbnb Hosts Earn More. Can AI Shrink the Racial Gap?

services to e-commerce platforms like eBay and Uber. “If other companies invest in building similar race-blind algorithms, that may even the playing field for users,” Zhang says. Without AI, white hosts earn more Airbnb has faced... View Details
Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology; Accommodations

    Airbnb During the Pandemic—Stakeholder Capitalism Faces a Critical Test

    As the covid pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the... View Details
    • 02 May 2016
    • HBS Seminar

    Chiara Farronato, Harvard Business School

    • December 2014 (Revised August 2024)
    • Case

    HomeAway: Organizing the Vacation Rental Industry

    By: Rory McDonald, Feng Zhu and Cheng Gao
    In less than 10 years, cofounders Brian Sharples and Carl Shepherd had transformed HomeAway from just another Internet startup into the world's leading vacation-rental marketplace—a global online platform that links customers seeking vacation-home rentals to the... View Details
    Keywords: Strategy; Innovation; Technology; Acquisitions; Operations Management; Digital Platforms; Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Disruption; Accommodations Industry
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    McDonald, Rory, Feng Zhu, and Cheng Gao. "HomeAway: Organizing the Vacation Rental Industry." Harvard Business School Case 615-036, December 2014. (Revised August 2024.)
    • 25 Apr 2023
    • Op-Ed

    How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

    fashion crowd in 2019. Today, its revenues exceed $24 billion, making it the world’s biggest fashion retailer. It offers a rapidly changing assortment of affordable clothing, shoes, accessories, and beauty products for young women and,... View Details
    Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products
    • Web

    Marketing - Faculty & Research

    for the 2022 John D. C. Little Award. They study the effect of Airbnb’s smart-pricing algorithm on the racial disparity in the daily revenue earned by Airbnb hosts. Their empirical strategy exploits Airbnb’s... View Details
    • Web

    Health Care - Faculty & Research

    approaches in developing nations can impact global health. Recent Publications Revenue Collapses and the Consumption of Small Business Owners in the COVID-19 Pandemic By: Olivia S. Kim , Jonathan A. Parker and Antoinette Schoar August... View Details
    • 09 Jan 2020
    • Book

    Rethinking Business Strategy in the Age of AI

    a traditional business—the gym—into an $8 billion digital offering that pulled in more than $700 million in revenue during the last fiscal year. Foley credits the magic of today’s technology, including software, data, and communication... View Details
    Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman
    • Web

    2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

    constrained business growth for hundreds of years. From Airbnb to Ant Financial, research shows how AI-driven processes are vastly more scalable than traditional processes, enable companies to straddle industry boundaries, and open up... View Details
    • 24 Oct 2011
    • Research & Ideas

    The Yelp Factor: Are Consumer Reviews Good for Business?

    reviews over professional critics, but also because of its historical database that tracks every review. Luca compared the ratings over time with revenue data from the state of Washington to gauge how reviews impacted restaurants' bottom... View Details
    Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage
    • 22 Jul 2019
    • Book

    How to Be a Digital Platform Leader

    business for 20 years. Its acquisition of Jet.com, however, let Walmart aggressively expand the top line of its platform revenue and bring in a team that understood platforms. Although still far behind Amazon, Walmart’s acquisition of... View Details
    Keywords: by Martha Lagace
    • 20 Sep 2019
    • Research & Ideas

    Solving the Riddle of How Companies Grow Over Time

    Sant’Anna; and Federico Tamagni, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. They define growth as “a process by which organizations pursue market opportunities and the acquisition and accumulation of the resources required to exploit those opportunities.” View Details
    Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing
    • 01 Mar 2023
    • News

    Is AI OK?

    economy, wanted to see how the algorithm performed. What she found surprised her: Although Airbnb had designed the pricing tool to be race-blind, the algorithm nonetheless widened the revenue gap between... View Details
    Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance
    • 14 Mar 2017
    • First Look

    First Look at New Research, March 14

    startup, which had raised over $130 million in venture capital, had seen revenue grow 100% and gross margin double. Would moving abroad expand thredUP's total addressable market and help position the company for an IPO? Or would it prove... View Details
    Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
    • 17 Aug 2015
    • Research & Ideas

    Who is Boss in the Sharing Economy?

    the ride-hailing app). In contrast, transferable decisions can be made by either party—the type of car an Uber driver uses; the kinds of details an Airbnb host lists about an apartment offered for rent; or how a hair stylist at a salon... View Details
    Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service; Technology
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