Initially interested in sharing economy platforms, I did my thesis under the CIFRE contract, a special type of thesis funding in France for which the companies pay the Ph.D. candidate and receive subsidies. I had the opportunity to work with Ecov, a company that specializes in daily ridesharing in rural areas, and to participate in the activities of the lab. My first two papers of the thesis benefited directly from the field of the early users of Ecov. In the last chapter of the thesis, I learned the data-scraping method and collected long-distance ridesharing data during a railway strike in France, using the API of BlaBlaCar. This eventually led me to collaborate directly with the company, funded by the Agency of Ecological Transition (ADEME). These experiences made me more interested in understanding how people travel, how digital platforms should better design their service, and how shared mobility could be integrated into the transportation sector.
Today, my research interests are broadened. I am interested in how to encourage sustainable consumption, with a special focus on sustainable mobility.
Journal Articles
Does Carpooling Reduce Carbon Emissions? The Effect of Environmental Policies in France. (2025) With Isac Olave-Cruz, Maïté Stephan, and Alexandre Volle, in Environmental and Resource Economics. (Published version | Preprint | Digest)
Intercity ridesharing to the rescue: Capacity flexibility and price stability of BlaBlaCar during the 2018 French railway strike. (2022) With Timothy Yu-Cheong Yeung, in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. (Published version | Preprint | Digest)
The limits of money in daily ridesharing: Evidence from a field experiment in rural France. (2021) in Revue d'économie industrielle. (Published version| Preprint | Digest in English and in French)
More generous for small favour? exploring the role of monetary and pro-social incentives of daily ride sharing using a field experiment in rural Île-de-France. (2017) in Communications & Strategies. (Published version | Digest in English and in French)
Book Chapters
Zhu,D. (2025) Digital mobility platform product diversification strategies: Becoming MaaS operators, in Challenges in Transport Regulation in Europe and Beyond, Co-edited by Matthias Finger, Juan Montero Pascual, and Elodie Petrozziello, Edward Elgar Publishing. (Link to the book | Link to the chapter)
Zhu, D. (2025, In Chinese) 共享出行平台的产品多元化战略与监管挑战：欧盟经验 (Product diversification strategies and regulatory challenges of shared mobility platforms: The EU Experience), in Regional Economic Research Report for Europe 2024- 2025 (European Union), Co-edited by Wang Hong, Zhao Xinge, Chen Fei, and Liu Gongrun, China Financial Publishing House. (Link to the chapter to come)
Zhu, D. (2024, in Chinese) 铁路监管的两难问题——欧盟铁路市场自由化和对中国的启示 (Railway market liberalization in Europe: Recent advances and insights for China), in Regional Economic Research Report for Europe 2023-2024 (European Union), Co-edited by Chen Xi, Qiu Ju, and Jiang Xueyun, China Financial Publishing House, Beijing. (Link to the book | Link to the chapter)
Work in Progress
Identification of daily travel mode preferences under random attention allocation: Evidence from a lab experiment and Paris With Zexuan Wang (SSRN working paper)
Art Influencers and Cultural Consumption: Exploring Their Role in Driving Audience Engagement and Diversity With Marie Ballarini.
How does price recommendation shape drivers' behavior in the carpooling market? With Vladimir Avetian, Surjasama Lahiri, and Shahmeer Mohsin.
Intermodal competition on long-distance passenger market: Evidence from five European countries. With Martina Gregori.
General Public
The need for regulation of the transport sector. (2024) GovReg Online Encyclopedia (Link)
Ridesharing: Its potential, challenges, and future in France. (2022) GovReg Notes of the Governance and Regulation Chair (In English | In French | 3-minute video digest | 30-minute debate)
Le covoiturage peut-il se remettre du confinement ? (2020) The Conversation (Link)