Kevin Ducbao Tran

It is exciting to see the junk fee discussion expanding! I know my coauthors and I hope this research continues to grow and that our paper on Airbnb cleaning fees offers a new angle to the literature on unshrouding fees with peer-to-peer sellers papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

We're honoured to be 1 of 3 European destinations on the REStud Tour, organised by the Review of Economics Studies (@RevEconStudies) 🌍 On 15-16 May we welcome 7 leading new global economists to speak to our academics & explore Bristol 🎓 Read more 👉 brnw.ch/21wSkVM

International Women's Day 2025 calls for us to #AccelerateAction for gender equality 🌍 Dr Danielle Guizzo, Associate Professor in Economics Education, shares how her work is doing just that. More 👉 brnw.ch/21wRf71 #IWD2025 #BristolUniWomen #WomeninEconomics

Mark did a great job summarising our work and its implications on TV!

🚨PhD students working on digital economics: please submit your papers to the 8th doctoral workshop on the economics of digitization, in Toulouse on May 6&7. Deadline: February 14. More info: digital-economics.org ( @mbourreau @AxelGautier1 )

La trasparenza sui costi aggiuntivi nelle piattaforme digitali riduce l’opacità dei prezzi, ma può aumentare i prezzi totali, influenzando consumatori e dinamiche di mercato. L'articolo di @leonmadio, @KDBTran, @millo_rossi e @tweetMTrem lavoce.info/archives/10672…

Greater price transparency is clearly good for consumers. However, we, @KDBTran @leonmadio @millo_rossi, show for @Airbnb cleaning fees that this is more complicated with peer suppliers whose information about competitor pricing changes with transparency: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

Is there are good argument against these rules? Transparency is good, no? But guessing the new team will try to undo this. @nealemahoney @CassSunstein

The FTC issued rules requiring companies to display the full price of a hotel room, concert ticket or sporting event up front to customers, rather than hiding any extra charges — often called “junk fees” — until the very end of the checkout process. wapo.st/3P1JPRU

@R_Thaler @nealemahoney @CassSunstein Not sure about good argument but our new WP shows that it can lead to price increases at least on peer-to-peer platforms b/c sellers are affected by price transparency, too: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… @leonmadio @millo_rossi @tweetMTrem

@JerryCap I agree our results suggest making fees transparent reduces inefficiencies - so probably good from total welfare perspective. Impact on consumers & Airbnb less clear. Airbnb only disclosed fees after regulatory pressure & only for EU, seems they preferred not disclosing fees.

@KDBTran Isn't that the right conclusion? It seems to me $ABNB goal shouldn't be higher or lower prices in and of itself but rather facilitating an efficient market. Isnt it clear from your thread not disclosing cleaning fees has lead to inefficiency!?

How does price transparency affect markets? 🤔 In our new paper, we analyze Airbnb’s policy change in the EU, where cleaning fees became fully transparent. The surprising finding: transparency doesn’t always lead to lower prices. Here’s why 👇

Curious to learn more? 📖 Check out the full paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… We uncover a fascinating mechanism linking transparency to pricing strategies in digital markets. Feedback and thoughts are welcome! 🚀

Policy implications: Price transparency isn’t universally good or bad. While it reduces search costs and obfuscation, it can also lead to price increases in some cases. Regulation needs to consider both demand-side and supply-side effects carefully.

BÆM is back! Come and join us in beautiful Bristol for the 2nd edition of the Bristol Applied Economics Meetings: Development Economics: May 6-7 Gender, Diversity, and Human Capital: May 8-9 Submit your paper by Feb 28. Travel support is available. baem.info. 1/4

Recently published in #RSUE: “Airbnb and Rental Markets: Evidence from Berlin” by Tomaso Duso (@tomaso_duso), Claus Michelsen (@ClausMichelsen), Maximilian Schaefer (@maxPschaefer), & Kevin Ducbao Tran (@KDBTran). #EconTwitter #UrbanEcon

It has been a long journey that began in 2017. I am especially happy that this paper is now being published. It has been a pleasure to work with my great co-authors @KDBTran, @maxPschaefer and @ClausMichelsen. And thanks to @Ahlfeldt for the excellent editorial support! A short🧵