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A Simple Framework for Estimating Consumer Benefits from Regulating Hidden Fees

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Listed:
  • Sumit Agarwal
  • Souphala Chomsisengphet
  • Neale Mahoney
  • Johannes Stroebel

Abstract

Policy makers are increasingly turning to regulation to reduce hidden or nonsalient fees. Yet the overall consumer benefits from these policies are uncertain because firms may increase other prices to offset lost fee revenue. We show that the extent to which firms offset reduced hidden-fee revenue is determined by a simple equation that combines two sufficient statistics, which can be estimated or calibrated in a wide range of settings: a parameter that captures the degree of market competitiveness and a parameter that captures the salience of the hidden fee. We provide corroborating evidence for this approach by drawing upon evidence on the effect of fee regulation under the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act. We also illustrate the applicability of our approach by using the framework to assess a hypothetical regulation of airline baggage fees.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumit Agarwal & Souphala Chomsisengphet & Neale Mahoney & Johannes Stroebel, 2014. "A Simple Framework for Estimating Consumer Benefits from Regulating Hidden Fees," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(S2), pages 239-252.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:doi:10.1086/677856
    DOI: 10.1086/677856
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Glenn Ellison, 2005. "A Model of Add-On Pricing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 585-637.
    2. Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2018. "Shrouded attributes, consumer myopia and information suppression in competitive markets," Chapters, in: Victor J. Tremblay & Elizabeth Schroeder & Carol Horton Tremblay (ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Industrial Organization, chapter 3, pages 40-74, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. E. Glen Weyl & Michal Fabinger, 2013. "Pass-Through as an Economic Tool: Principles of Incidence under Imperfect Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(3), pages 528-583.
    4. Ausubel, Lawrence M, 1991. "The Failure of Competition in the Credit Card Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 50-81, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastien Bradley & Naomi E. Feldman, 2020. "Hidden Baggage: Behavioral Responses to Changes in Airline Ticket Tax Disclosure," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 58-87, November.
    2. Michael D. Grubb, 2015. "Overconfident Consumers in the Marketplace," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 9-36, Fall.
    3. Jeffrey N. Gordon, 2014. "The Empty Call for Benefit-Cost Analysis in Financial Regulation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(S2), pages 351-378.
    4. Roman Inderst & Martin Obradovits, 2023. "Excessive Competition On Headline Prices," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(2), pages 783-808, May.
    5. Botteon Costa, Raone & Ferman, Bruno & Monte, Daniel, 2020. "Baggage fees in airlines: Is this a good idea?," MPRA Paper 101864, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Michael Grubb, 2015. "Behavioral Consumers in Industrial Organization: An Overview," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 247-258, November.
    7. Michael D. Grubb, 2015. "Behavioral Consumers in Industrial Organization," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 879, Boston College Department of Economics.
    8. K. Jeremy Ko & Jared Williams, 2017. "The Effects of Regulating Hidden Add‐On Costs," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(1), pages 39-74, February.
    9. Øyvind Thomassen & Howard Smith & Stephan Seiler & Pasquale Schiraldi, 2017. "Multi-category Competition and Market Power: A Model of Supermarket Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2308-2351, August.
    10. Brett Hollenbeck & Kosuke Uetake, 2021. "Taxation and market power in the legal marijuana industry," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 52(3), pages 559-595, September.
    11. Eric A. Posner & E. Glen Weyl, 2014. "Benefit-Cost Paradigms in Financial Regulation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(S2), pages 1-34.
    12. Bruce I. Carlin & Li Jiang & Stephen A. Spiller, 2018. "Millennial-Style Learning: Search Intensity, Decision Making, and Information Sharing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3313-3330, July.

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