Spatial spillover effects on the efficiency of P2P accommodation units

This paper analyses the spatial effects on the production efficiency of P2P accommodation units as an indication of their performance. The empirical analysis undertaken is based on data for the sharing accommodation industry in the Canary Islands (Spain) in the period January 2019–September 2020 (monthly data). In a first stage, order-m robust nonparametric frontier analysis is used to detect superefficient, fully efficient and inefficient listings. The results show that the sharing economy industry was operating at close to full efficiency, and that the annual average score in this respect remained largely constant for some types of accommodation. In the second stage of the analysis, an econometric spatial model approach is applied to identify the spatial drivers of efficiency. The main findings are that negative competition effects prevail over positive agglomeration effects and that spatial professionalization negatively influences listing efficiency. The theoretical and management implications of these findings are discussed.