5 ms·

Can anyone comment on the difference between "contributions to total spending in the city economy" and "economic activity generated in the city"? I am curious a

by dfc 13y ago

Can anyone comment on the difference between "contributions to total spending in the city economy" and "economic activity generated in the city"? I am curious about the disparity in these two statements: SF: From April 2011 May 2012 guests and hosts utilizing Airbnb have contributed $56 million in total spending to San Francisco’s economy [1] NYC: Over the course of a year, Airbnb generated $632 million in economic activity in New York. [2] Another question I have is how would the authors identify the economic contributions of AirBnB hosts in San Francisco? And/or how they would distinguish between the contributions that were the result of AirBnB and those contributions that would have happened without AirBnB? I am aware of HR&A's motivations.[3] I am not trying to criticize the report I am interested in the actual analytical process. [1] http://assets.airbnb.com/press/press-releases/Economic_Impact_Study.pdf http://assets.airbnb.com/press/press-releases/Economic_Impac... [2] http://www.metro.us/newyork/news/2013/10/22/airbnb-a-huge-boost-to-citys-economy-study/ http://www.metro.us/newyork/news/2013/10/22/airbnb-a-huge-bo... [3] http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

nonchalance 13y ago
Apple put out similar hand-wavey figures last year: https://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/ https://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/ I think the point boils down to: 1) dollars paid to hosts are counted towards the city economy (ostensibly most of those would be spent in the city) -- this is direct 2) renters need to eat etc, and those monies should be counted to the economic activity -- this is indirect
- dominotw 13y ago
  >renters need to eat etc Wouldn't they have to eat regardless of where they stay?
  - nonchalance 13y ago
    If you are staying for a day or two, you most likely would go out and eat your meals (including breakfast). For longer stays, especially with kitchen access, you probably would buy cereal, milk, juice, and other items. If you are estimating the cost of food based on average or median restaurant, you aren't capturing the true dynamics (note: as they said in the report, the average stay is close to a week in length)

by dfc 13y ago

nonchalance 13y ago

Apple put out similar hand-wavey figures last year: https://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/ https://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/ I think the point boils down to: 1) dollars paid to hosts are counted towards the city economy (ostensibly most of those would be spent in the city) -- this is direct 2) renters need to eat etc, and those monies should be counted to the economic activity -- this is indirect

dominotw 13y ago
>renters need to eat etc Wouldn't they have to eat regardless of where they stay?
- nonchalance 13y ago
  If you are staying for a day or two, you most likely would go out and eat your meals (including breakfast). For longer stays, especially with kitchen access, you probably would buy cereal, milk, juice, and other items. If you are estimating the cost of food based on average or median restaurant, you aren't capturing the true dynamics (note: as they said in the report, the average stay is close to a week in length)