spb/wp4_uqo

1% ============================================================================2% UQO Working Paper No. 43% Hedonic Pricing of Short-Term Rental Properties:4% A Multi-Method Analysis of Airbnb Listing Prices in Quebec5% ============================================================================6\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}78% --- Encoding & Language ---9\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}10\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}11\usepackage[english]{babel}1213% --- Page Layout ---14\usepackage[letterpaper, margin=1in, headheight=15pt]{geometry}15\usepackage{setspace}16\onehalfspacing17\setlength{\parindent}{1.5em}18\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}1920% --- Typography ---21\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}22\usepackage{amsmath,amsfonts}23\let\Bbbk\relax24\usepackage{amssymb}25\usepackage{mathtools}26\usepackage{microtype}2728% --- Tables ---29\usepackage{booktabs}30\usepackage{threeparttable}31\usepackage{tabularx}32\usepackage{array}33\usepackage{siunitx}34\usepackage{multirow}35\usepackage{longtable}3637% --- Figures ---38\usepackage{graphicx}39\usepackage[40  font       = small,41  labelfont  = bf,42  labelsep   = period,43  skip       = 8pt,44  justification = justified,45  singlelinecheck = false46]{caption}47\usepackage{subcaption}48\usepackage{float}4950% --- Colors & Links ---51\usepackage[dvipsnames]{xcolor}52\usepackage[bookmarks, bookmarksnumbered]{hyperref}53\hypersetup{54  colorlinks  = true,55  linkcolor   = NavyBlue,56  citecolor   = NavyBlue,57  urlcolor    = NavyBlue,58  pdftitle    = {Hedonic Pricing of Short-Term Rental Properties: A Multi-Method Analysis of Airbnb Listing Prices in Quebec},59  pdfauthor   = {Simon-Pierre Boucher}60}6162% --- Bibliography ---63\usepackage[authoryear,round,semicolon]{natbib}64\bibliographystyle{aer}6566% --- Headers & Footers ---67\usepackage{fancyhdr}68\pagestyle{fancy}69\fancyhf{}70\fancyhead[L]{\small\itshape Hedonic Pricing of Short-Term Rentals in Quebec}71\fancyhead[R]{\small\thepage}72\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0.4pt}73\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}74\fancypagestyle{plain}{%75  \fancyhf{}76  \fancyfoot[C]{\small\thepage}77  \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}78}7980% --- Section Formatting ---81\usepackage{titlesec}82\titleformat{\section}{\large\bfseries}{\thesection.}{0.5em}{}83\titleformat{\subsection}{\normalsize\bfseries}{\thesubsection.}{0.5em}{}84\titleformat{\subsubsection}{\normalsize\itshape}{\thesubsubsection.}{0.5em}{}8586% --- Appendix Support ---87\usepackage{appendix}88\usepackage{enumitem}8990% --- Graphics Path ---91\graphicspath{{figures/}}9293% --- Custom Commands ---94\newcommand{\E}{\mathbb{E}}95\newcommand{\Var}{\mathrm{Var}}96\newcommand{\Cov}{\mathrm{Cov}}97\newcommand{\R}{\mathbb{R}}98\newcommand{\eps}{\varepsilon}99\newcommand{\pval}{\textit{p}-value}100101% ============================================================================102% METADATA103% ============================================================================104\newcommand{\WPnumber}{4}105\newcommand{\WPtitle}{Hedonic Pricing of Short-Term Rental Properties: A Multi-Method Analysis of Airbnb Listing Prices in Quebec}106\newcommand{\WPsubtitle}{}107\newcommand{\WPdate}{May 2026}108\newcommand{\WPversion}{1.0}109\newcommand{\WPabstract}{%110This paper develops a comprehensive hedonic pricing model for short-term111rental properties listed on Airbnb across Quebec, Canada. Drawing on112\citet{Rosen1974} and \citet{Lancaster1966}, we decompose nightly prices113into implicit valuations of structural characteristics, amenity bundles,114host attributes, reputation signals, locational factors, and text-derived115features. Our dataset comprises 5,000 listings from Inside Airbnb, of116which 3,412 retain valid prices after cleaning. We employ a layered117econometric strategy: nine nested OLS specifications with HC3 robust118standard errors, progressing from a structural-only model ($R^2 = 0.052$)119to a full specification with spatial controls ($R^2 = 0.274$); quantile120regression at $\tau \in \{0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 0.90\}$ revealing121heterogeneity across the price distribution; machine learning122methods---XGBoost ($R^2 = 0.285$), Random Forest, Gradient Boosting,123LightGBM---with SHAP interpretability; and spatial econometric124models---spatial lag, spatial error, and spatial Durbin125specifications---accounting for spatial dependence. Bedrooms, room type,126review scores, spatial context, and amenity indices are the dominant127price determinants, with their relative importance shifting across128quantiles and geographic sub-markets.%129}130\newcommand{\WPkeywords}{hedonic pricing, Airbnb, short-term rentals, quantile regression, spatial econometrics, machine learning, SHAP, Quebec, amenity valuation}131\newcommand{\WPjel}{C21, C31, C45, C58, L83, R31, R33}132133% --- Author ---134\newcommand{\WPauthor}{Simon-Pierre Boucher}135\newcommand{\WPaffiliation}{%136  D\'epartement des sciences administratives\\137  Universit\'e du Qu\'ebec en Outaouais%138}139\newcommand{\WPemail}{simon-pierre.boucher@uqo.ca}140\newcommand{\WPaddress}{%141  Gatineau -- Pavillon Alexandre-Tach\'e\\142  283, boulevard Alexandre-Tach\'e\\143  Gatineau, Qu\'ebec, Canada J9A 1L8%144}145146% ============================================================================147% DOCUMENT148% ============================================================================149\begin{document}150151% --- Title Page ---152\input{sections/titlepage}153154% --- Main Body ---155\input{sections/introduction}156\input{sections/data}157\input{sections/methodology}158\input{sections/results}159\input{sections/robustness}160\input{sections/conclusion}161162% --- References ---163\newpage164\bibliography{references}165166% --- Appendix ---167\newpage168\appendix169\renewcommand{\thetable}{A.\arabic{table}}170\renewcommand{\thefigure}{A.\arabic{figure}}171\setcounter{table}{0}172\setcounter{figure}{0}173\input{sections/appendix}174175\end{document}176