Spatial Variability of the ‘Airbnb Effect’: A Spatially Explicit Analysis of Airbnb’s Impact on Housing Prices in Sydney

Over the last decade, the emergence and significant growth of home-sharing platforms, such as Airbnb, has coincided with rising housing unaffordability in many global cities. It is in this context that we look to empirically assess the impact of Airbnb on housing prices in Sydney—one of the least affordable cities in the world. Employing a hedonic property valuation model, our results indicate that Airbnb’s overall effect is positive. A 1% increase in Airbnb density is associated with approximately a 2% increase in property sales price. However, recognizing that Airbnb’s effect is geographically uneven and given the fragmented nature of Sydney’s housing market, we also employ a GWR to account for the spatial variation in Airbnb activity. The findings confirm that Airbnb’s influence on housing prices is varied across the city. Sydney’s northern beaches and parts of western Sydney experience a statistically significant value uplift attributable to Airbnb activity. However, traditional tourist locations focused around Sydney’s CBD and the eastern suburbs experience insignificant or negative property price impacts. The results highlight the need for policymakers to consider local Airbnb and housing market contexts when deciding the appropriate level and design of Airbnb regulation.

Demographic and clinical factors associated with psychiatric inpatient admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic may cause a major mental health impact. We aimed to identify demographic or clinical factors associated with psychiatric admissions where COVID-19 was attributed to contribute to mental state, compared to admissions which did not. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken of inpatients admitted to Northern Psychiatric Unit 1, Northern Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during 27/02/2020 to 08/07/2020. Data were extracted for participants who identified COVID-19 as a stressor compared to participants who did not. Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitley rank sum test were used. RESULTS: Thirty six of 242 inpatients reported the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to mental ill health and subsequent admission. Reasons given included social isolation, generalized distress about the pandemic, barriers to support services, disruption to daily routine, impact on employment, media coverage, re-traumatization, cancelled ECT sessions, loss of loved ones, and increased drug use during the lockdown. Chronic medical conditions or psychiatric multimorbidity were positively associated and smoking status was negatively associated with reporting the COVID-19 pandemic as a contributor to mental ill health. CONCLUSION: Screening and identifying vulnerable populations during and after the global disaster is vital for timely and appropriate interventions to reduce the impact of the pandemic worldwide.

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerated the Future of Work or Changed Its Course? Implications for Research and Practice.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique transboundary crisis which has disrupted people's way of life more dramatically than any event in generations. Given the ambiguity surrounding the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and its enduring negative effects, it is important to understand how this has affected important future of work trends. The aim of the current paper is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commonly discussed future of work trends relevant to occupational safety and health priority areas. These topics include work arrangements, compensation and benefits, and the organization of work. For each topic, we assess trends leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, discuss the impact of the pandemic on these trends, and conclude with implications for research and practice. Overall, the pandemic appears to have both accelerated and disrupted various trends associated with future of work topic areas. These effects are discussed in terms of implications for both policymakers and organizations.

Practice what we preach, think how we teach

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has identified metacognition as one of the many approaches to improving our higher education standards that may be unfamiliar to us as industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists. [...]once the content has been sufficiently covered, you will plan the forms of assessment, whether it be a multiple-choice exam, a reflection paper, a term paper, or discussion posts. At face value, it may seem like engaging in planning can take away precious resources that already feel nearly depleted from other important tasks such as meeting publication pressure, mentoring your graduate students, or being a good steward of your program. Because we are not all-knowing, however, it is time for monitoring to take center stage.

Overcoming the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oncology early phase trials and drug development in Asia-Experiences and perspectives of the Asian Oncology Early Phase 1 Consortium.

AIM: The significance and prioritization of early phase oncology trial continuation during a global pandemic is unknown. This study reported the outcomes, multiple challenges, and broad recommendations associated with the impact of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on oncology early phase 1 trials-and on drug development in Asia-based on the experiences and perspectives of Asian oncology phase 1 centers. METHODS: Between March and April 2020 during the initial period of outbreak, the impact of COVID-19 across oncology phase 1 sites in five Asian countries-China (Hong Kong), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore-was retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: There was no trial termination or treatment discontinuation in all five countries. Although the most common impact was new patient enrollment being placed on hold, which was based on pharmaceutical sponsors' decision-making, the situation varied per site. Most sites had no restrictions in place that would limit their ability to fully comply with the requirements of conducting the early phase studies. The number of protocol deviations during the pandemic was largely dependent on domestic transportation status during the outbreak rather than the ability of the clinical trial centers. CONCLUSION: Determining the risk to benefits ratio of patients with cancer who are enrolled in early phase 1 clinical trials under the unusual circumstances of a global pandemic is important. Specific guidance or guidelines on the conduct of early phase 1 clinical trials during public health emergencies that are based on the recent lessons learned is urgently required.