| he objective of this study is to explain the differences between prices of interval ownership (IO) and right-to-use (RTU) resort timeshare contracts in the State of Hawaii. A complete description of timeshare contract characteristics is provided, along with their statistical distribution in Hawaii. Then a hedonic price function incorporating the physical and contractual attributes of the timeshares as explanatory variables is specified. The variables are the unit's number of bedrooms, the resort's location (whether at beach), its age, the number of recreational facilities, fixed versus floating reservation arrangements, seasons, annual fees, year of unit purchase, and contract form. The latter variable, which is the focal point of the study, is a dummy that distinguishes between location specific IO and multi-resort club RTU observations.;A sample of 1,625 (728 IO and 897 club RTU) observations is obtained and analyzed using ordinary least-squares regression techniques. All estimated coefficients have signs consistent with economic theory and they are significant. The contract form coefficient indicates that the club RTU characteristics (1) are valued at approximately... |
