Sharing Means Renting?: An Entire-marketplace Analysis of Airbnb

Airbnb, an online marketplace for accommodations, has experienced a staggering growth accompanied by intense debates and scattered regulations around the world. Current discourses, however, are largely focused on opinions rather than empirical evidences. Here, we aim to bridge this gap by presenting the first large-scale measurement study on Airbnb, using a crawled data set containing 2.3 million listings, 1.3 million hosts, and 19.3 million reviews. We measure several key characteristics at the heart of the ongoing debate and the sharing economy. Among others, we find that Airbnb has reached a global yet heterogeneous coverage. The majority of its listings across many countries are entire homes, suggesting that Airbnb is actually more like a rental marketplace rather than a spare-room sharing platform. Analysis on star-ratings reveals that there is a bias toward positive ratings, amplified by a bias toward using positive words in reviews. The extent of such bias is greater than Yelp reviews, which were already shown to exhibit a positive bias. We investigate a key issue---commercial hosts who own multiple listings on Airbnb---repeatedly discussed in the current debate. We find that their existence is prevalent, they are early-movers towards joining Airbnb, and their listings are disproportionately entire homes and located in the US. Our work advances the current understanding of how Airbnb is being used and may serve as an independent and empirical reference to inform the debate.Comment: WebSci '1

Developing an Intervention Toolbox for the Common Health Problems in the Workplace

Development of the Health ↔ Work Toolbox is described. The toolbox aims to reduce the workplace impact of common health problems (musculoskeletal, mental health, and stress complaints) by focusing on tackling work-relevant symptoms. Based on biopsychosocial principles this toolbox supplements current approaches by occupying the zone between primary prevention and healthcare. It provides a set of evidence-informed principles and processes (knowledge + tools) for tackling work-relevant common health problems. The toolbox comprises a proactive element aimed at empowering line managers to create good jobs, and a ‘just in time’ responsive element for supporting individuals struggling with a work-relevant health problem. The key intention is helping people with common health problems to maintain work participation. The extensive conceptual and practical development process, including a comprehensive evidence review, produced a functional prototype toolbox that is evidence based and flexible in its use. End-user feedback was mostly positive. Moving the prototype to a fully-fledged internet resource requires specialist design expertise. The Health ↔ Work Toolbox appears to have potential to contribute to the goal of augmenting existing primary prevention strategies and healthcare delivery by providing a more comprehensive workplace approach to constraining sickness absence

Referencial para a caracterização de websites de hotéis de acordo com as necessidades dos consumidores

Online presence is essential for tourism organisations, and the quality of websites can influence customers. In the case of hotels, there are many studies to evaluate website performance based on functionality, usability and other factors, much less on the amount of different information available to the consumer. In the near future by using Big Data it is expected that hotel websites will be dynamic, they will adapt themselves on-the-fly, showing personalized information to each consumer. Different consumers will have different websites (information? available) from the same hotel. This paper presents a framework for the characterisation of hotel websites, focusing on the amount of information available to the consumer in each website, which was applied in a case study during the last months of 2013 to the websites of five-star hotels that operate in the tourist region of the Algarve, Portugal. The framework allowed to identify a set of exhaustive indicators for hotel website characterisation, which were then grouped into ten fundamental information dimensions. These dimensions further fell into four dimension groups. Finally, it is presented and discussed quantitative and qualitative evaluations, that illustrates which indicators and dimensions are more often considered on hotel websites to satisfy the consumer?s information needs

A Methodology for Engineering Collaborative and ad-hoc Mobile Applications using SyD Middleware

Today’s web applications are more collaborative and utilize standard and ubiquitous Internet protocols. We have earlier developed System on Mobile Devices (SyD) middleware to rapidly develop and deploy collaborative applications over heterogeneous and possibly mobile devices hosting web objects. In this paper, we present the software engineering methodology for developing SyD-enabled web applications and illustrate it through a case study on two representative applications: (i) a calendar of meeting application, which is a collaborative application and (ii) a travel application which is an ad-hoc collaborative application. SyD-enabled web objects allow us to create a collaborative application rapidly with limited coding effort. In this case study, the modular software architecture allowed us to hide the inherent heterogeneity among devices, data stores, and networks by presenting a uniform and persistent object view of mobile objects interacting through XML/SOAP requests and responses. The performance results we obtained show that the application scales well as we increase the group size and adapts well within the constraints of mobile devices

Learning Disabilities and the Virtual College Campus: A Grounded Theory of Accessibility

Two trends currently impacting higher education intersect in this study: (1) students with learning disabilities are enrolling in colleges and universities in increasing numbers, and (2) colleges and universities are increasingly relying on the web to provide services to students. This reliance on the virtual campus comes without apparent consideration of accessibility issues that may be experienced by students with learning disabilities. This study explored the experiences of 16 college students, self-identified as having learning disabilities, as they interacted with the virtual campus of one college. Consistent with the social model of disability, this study initially focused on the features of the virtual campus that were both helpful and not helpful to the informants as they performed eight tasks considered typical of those expected of a college student. Using a grounded theory methodology, the model that evolved from this data indicated that to understand the informants\u27 experiences, consideration had to be given also to what the informants brought to the experience, including their active choice and use of helpful strategies. The results of this study suggest that web accessibility as currently conceived is too limiting. A one-size-fits-all approach to universal access is unrealistic as users of the virtual campus bring varied strengths and capabilities as well as varied impairments to their interaction with web-based services. While colleges and universities are encouraged to follow current usability and accessibility principles, attention should also be given to the construction of a web-human interface that can be individualized to meet a user\u27s specific needs

Leveling the Playing Field: Attracting, Engaging, and Advancing People with Disabilities

People with disabilities experience significant challenges in finding employment. The participation of people with disabilities in the workforce and their median income are both less than half that of the civilian workforce. They work part time 68 percent more frequently than people without disabilities. These disheartening results persist despite the enactment of significant federal legislation aimed at making the workplace more supportive and accessible to people with disabilities. The Conference Board Research Working Group (RWG) on Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Disabilities was convened to address how to overcome these disparities. It was sponsored by the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. The RWG members focused on four questions: 1) The business case: Is it advantageous for organizations to employ people with disabilities? 2) Organizational readiness: What should organizations do to create a workplace that enables people with disabilities to thrive and advance? 3) Measurement: How can success for both people with disabilities and the organization itself be determined? 4) Self-disclosure: How can people with disabilities, especially those whose disabilities are not obvious, be encouraged to identify themselves so that resources can be directed toward them and outcomes can be measured

BUILDING AN APPLICATION MODEL FOR EFFICIENT RIDE BOOKING IN RIDE-HAILING INDUSTRY

The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient ride booking application in the ride-hailing sector. The objective of the research is to provide users with an easy way to book rides at reasonable prices and convenient times. This project helps to promote the ride-hailing industry by providing guidance for the creation of real-time applications. This project answered three questions. 1. What are the technology and infrastructure requirements for developing a consolidated online application for centralized ride sharing? 2. What are other examples of application aggregators in other industries than transportation and how do they work? 3. What are the steps for developing an online application that integrates the current ride-sharing applications? This project used the Java programming language to design an Android application in Android Studio that compares different ride fares, wait time and car types. The application made use of a dummy dataset in JSON format that included time, cost, and car type details. The software allows users to enter their origin and destination, and it then presents information on availability, waiting times, estimated costs, and car types. The application development process includes the creation of the dataset, setup of the Android Studio project, data retrieval and merging using Java programming, and tabular data display on a mobile screen. The developed application helps users compare various ride-sharing services, informs riders of available ride charges, and offers estimates for wait times. It assists riders in booking the best ride among various available options across different ride-sharing platforms based on their preferences. development of an efficient ride-sharing application in the ride-hailing industry, aiming to provide users with the ability to book rides at reasonable prices and suitable times. Future developments for ride-efficiency apps include multi-language support, advanced filtering, real-time API integration, ride-sharing service growth, in-app payments, user reviews, personalized suggestions, map integration, and multi-modal growth

Assessing the sharing economy characteristics and social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation on host communities: an analysis of Airbnb and Fairbnb.coop

This thesis analyses the characteristics of the sharing economy (SE) to help in assessing the degree to which organizations represent the sharing or the exchange economy. It presents a Sharing Economy Continuum (SEC) and a Sharing Index (SI) to assist organizations operating under the paradigm of SE. It also proposes and tests a framework that integrates the main social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation on host communities and suggests working definitions of peer-to-peer accommodation in the SE and social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation at the host community level, by merging the concepts of SE and peer-to-peer accommodation, and the social impacts on host communities. Centred on a mixed-method approach, this thesis begins by analysing the sharing and exchange characteristics of Airbnb and Fairbnb.coop, through a triangulation of multiple data sources, adopting a deductive content analysis method; then it continues positioning both organizations in the SEC based on the SI value. The thesis also applies an integrative literature review to investigate the social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation on host communities, which supports a definition of peer-to-per accommodation in the SE, a definition of social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation in the SE, and the analysis of how Fairbnb.coop manages social impacts on host communities. The findings support the argument that organizations operating under the concept of SE represent this business paradigm to varying degrees, in which Fairbnb.coop represents a stronger example compared to Airbnb. The literature review focusing on the social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation on host communities leads to a framework that integrates related streams of research in six core themes; to a definition of peer-to-peer accommodation; to a definition of social impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation; and to an understanding of how Fairbnb.coop is planning to address the main social impacts on host communities.Esta tese analisa as características da economia partilhada (SE) para ajudar a avaliar o grau em que as organizações representam a economia de partilha ou a economia de troca. Sugere um Continuum de Economia Partilhada (SEC) e um Índice de Partilha (SI) para ajudar as organizações que operam sob o conceito de SE. Também propõe e testa um "framework" que integra os principais impactos sociais do alojamento "peer-to-peer" nas comunidades anfitriãs e propõe definições de alojamento "peer-to-peer" na economia partilhada e de impactos sociais dos alojamentos peer-to-peer, através da fusão dos conceitos de economia partilhada e alojamento peer-to-peer, e impactos sociais nas comunidades anfitriãs. Centrada numa abordagem de método misto, esta tese começa por analisar as características das organizações "Airbnb" e "Fairbnb.coop", através de uma triangulação de múltiplas fontes de dados, adotando um método de análise de conteúdo dedutiva; e posicionando ambas as organizações no SEC com base no valor SI. Também aplica uma revisão de literatura para investigar os impactos sociais do alojamento "peer-to-peer" nas comunidades anfitriãs, o que apoia as definições de alojamento "peer-to-peer" na economia partilhada e de impactos sociais do alojamento "peer-to-peer", e a análise de como a "Fairbnb.coop" gere os impactos sociais nas comunidades anfitriãs. As conclusões apoiam o argumento de que as organizações que operam sob o conceito de economia partilhada representam este paradigma empresarial em diferentes níveis, no qual a "Fairbnb.coop" representa um exemplo mais forte em comparação com a "Airbnb". A revisão da literatura centrada nos impactos sociais da acomodação "peer-to-peer" nas comunidades anfitriãs conduz a um "framework" que integra fluxos de investigação em seis emas centrais; a uma definição de acomodação "peer-to-peer"; e a uma compreensão de como a "Fairbnb.coop" está a planear gerir os principais impactos sociais nas comunidades anfitriãs