Determining factors in the choice of prices of tourist rental accommodation. New evidence using the quantile regression approach

Abstract

The disruption in destinations caused by the emergence of new forms of tourist distribution within the framework of the sharing economy gives rise to new challenges in terms of competitiveness, regulation and even investment. This article studies the determining factors that influence consumer decisions in the choice of rental accommodation using both ordinary least square models (OLS) and quantile regression (QR) estimation techniques. The results show the greater interpretative capacity of the QR, which reveals certain overlooked patterns of the relationship between some of the characteristics of the properties, the hosts or the socioeconomic environment and the price paid by the users. These results can facilitate decision making in the destinations by companies, society and the public sector.