Hidden prices with fixed inventory: Evidence from the airline industry

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.