TY  - JOUR
ID  - publications46440
UR  - http://tse-fr.eu/pub/127515
IS  - n° 2
A1  - Ennis, Sean
A1  - Ivaldi, Marc
A1  - Lagos, Vicente
Y1  - 2023/05//
N2  - This paper examines the impact of most favored nation (MFN) clauses on retail prices, taking advantage of two natural experiments that changed vertical contracting between hotels and major digital platforms. The broad E.U. intervention narrowed the breadth of “price parity” obligations between hotels and major Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). Direct sales by hotels to customers subsequently became relatively cheaper. Comparisons with hotel pricing outside the E.U. confirm the reduction in prices for mid-level and luxury hotels. France and Germany went further and eliminated all price-parity agreements. This stronger intervention was associated solely with a significant additional price-reducing effect for mid-level hotels in Germany. Overall, wide MFNs are associated with higher retail prices. Regulating MFNs reduced prices with primary effects coming either from the narrow price-parity intervention or, perhaps, from direct sales becoming cheaper than OTAs in both E.U. and non-E.U. countries, and, interestingly, not from complete elimination of MFNs.
PB  - Kluwer
JF  - European Journal of Law and Economics
VL  - vol. 66
KW  - Price Parity Clause (PPC)
KW  - Most favored nation (MFN)
KW  - Most favored customer (MFC)
KW  - Hotel Industry
KW  - Impact Evaluation
KW  - Online Travel Agency (OTA)
KW  - digital platforms
SN  - 0929-1261
TI  - Price parity clauses for hotel room booking: empirical evidence from regulatory change
AV  - public
ER  -