Online booking systems are commonly used to allocate appointments for visa interviews, driver's licenses, passport renewals, and other appointments. As their use expands, black markets have developed where scalpers book free appointments and then sell the slots to appointment-seekers. This has led to the question of how one can allocate appointments though online systems but circumvent the creation of black markets.

NERA Senior Consultant Dr. C.-Philipp Heller coauthored “How to Avoid Black Markets for Appointments with Online Booking Systems,” published in American Economic Review (vol. 111), released in July 2021. The article addresses the question of how to allocate appointments with online booking systems in such a way to avoid the inadvertent creation of black markets and scalping.