WU Vienna, Austria

Framing Airbnb and the home sharing economy: corporate political activity in the dynamic regulatory context of a nascent ecosystem

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Abstract

I investigate how Airbnb and its stakeholders try to influence the regulatory process in the city of Vienna, Austria, and on the level of the European Union. Following an inductive approach, I have been collecting data from interviews and policy statements with the aim of identifying narratives in the home sharing ecosystem. In a frame analysis of the city-level data, I have identified three distinct frames. My preliminary findings show differences in the frames used by Airbnb and its stakeholders and indicate how different positions in the ecosystem align with different motivations. I expect my study to have both theoretical and practical value. Theoretically, I aim to add to the insights gained through the institutional lens by incorporating field theory. Practically, my study may enable politicians to recognize the value of organizing the regulatory process such that it warrants a balance between short- and long-term, as well as economic and social interests.

Biography

I am PhD student in Strategy and International Business at WU Vienna and have recently been hosted by Jonathan Doh as a Visiting Scholar at Villanova School of Business, PA. I have a background in Economics. My research centers on the institutional drivers of corporate political strategies and firm-level non-/market consequences of such strategies. I am particularly fascinated by how firms access and manage their political context through corporate political strategies in the context of complex and dynamic institutions and the consequences of such corporate political strategies for firm-level performance – with a particular focus on the dynamics over time.