Sharing Competition: An Agent-Based Model for the Short-Term Accommodations Market

Abstract

This paper presents an agent-based model for the sharing economy, in the short-term accommodations market, where peers participating as suppliers and customers follow simple decision rules about sharing market participation, according to their heterogeneous characteristics. Simulations results show that, in the competition between the sharing economy and the traditional industry, low substitutability occurs between goods if consumers are differentiated in preferences. The main determinant for market performance in both sectors is the demand level, with minor influence of price setting and competition within and between markets.