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Hidden prices with fixed inventory: Evidence from the airline industry

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  • Alderighi, Marco
  • Gaggero, Alberto A.
  • Piga, Claudio A.

Abstract

When a firm can sell multiple units before any price adjustment takes place, three forces may affect the pricing of the inventory over time: perishability drives prices down, scarcity shifts prices up, and intertemporal price discrimination raises prices. Hidden prices arise because each unit, even if not immediately up for sale, is assigned a price. Airline fares collected for the analysis empirically show the existence of each force. The price of each seat tends to decrease over time, except few days before departure; at any point in time, fares are increasing in the sequential order of sale of the seats.

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  • Alderighi, Marco & Gaggero, Alberto A. & Piga, Claudio A., 2022. "Hidden prices with fixed inventory: Evidence from the airline industry," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 42-61.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:157:y:2022:i:c:p:42-61
    DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2022.01.001
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    1. Marcella Nicolini & Claudio A. Piga & Andrea Pozzi, 2023. "From uniform to bespoke prices: Hotel pricing during EURO 2016," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 333-355, September.
    2. Alderighi, Marco & Nicolini, Marcella & Piga, Claudio A., 2019. "Is low-cost carriers’ revenue management a firm capability?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 15-22.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Airlines; Dynamic pricing; Revenue management;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation

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