Sharing Economy Impact on Post-Disaster Community Resilience: A Collective Efficacy Perspective

In the context of increasingly frequent natural disasters, this paper explores the potential of digital resilience facilitated by sharing economy platforms like Airbnb. We examine how Airbnb’s peer-to-peer resource-sharing model can enhance community resilience while alleviating the burden on governmental resources during natural disasters. Extending collective efficacy theory (CET) to the sharing economy, we propose that Airbnb fosters community resilience through resource mobilization among service providers, creating a bottom-up, technology-mediated disaster response structure. Combining Airbnb platform data with various data sources, we find that communities with more Airbnb hosts exhibit greater resilience, as evidenced by lower dependence on federal loans. Moreover, the effect of Airbnb-based collective efficacy on loan reduction is significantly moderated by informal mobilization channels, such as Facebook host clubs, and formal mobilization channels, such as the “Open Homes” program, as these mobilization channels guide decentralized resources effectively toward disaster recovery efforts. Our findings offer theoretical and practical insights into the resilience effect of digital platforms during crises, while expanding the boundary conditions of CET by emphasizing the potential of crowd-based technologies to support a bottom-up approach in disaster management.