Quasi-experimental analysis reveals limited price effects in consumer-visible channels after removing parity clauses.
Dominant platforms like Booking.com have often imposed Price Parity Clauses to prevent lower prices on alternative sales channels. We provide quasi-experimental evidence on the removal of these price restrictions in France in 2015 for three major global hotel groups. Our analysis reveals limited and non-significant price effects for rooms sold through consumer-visible channels, such as hotels’ websites or online travel agencies. However, we document a significant price reduction on sales channels not visible to consumers, such as direct offline bookings. Additionally, we identify a significant shift in the share of bookings from online travel agencies to the hotels’ direct offline channels.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ma et al. (2026) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: