Monday, May 23, 2005
Too much of a price to pay.
Discussing Freakonomics, the new book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, John Quiggin repeats their anecdote that:
Day-care providers, take note: G. remarks that the corollary to this finding is that once you establish that there is a price for everything, you need only jack the price to something outrageous (say, $5 for every minute late) to ensure complete compliance with the pickup time.
Parents respond to a small charge for late pickups from a childcare centre by increasing the number of late pickups; apparently, the specification of a monetary price cancelled any feeling of moral obligation.Clearly, I am wired differently. Or just cheap. The added prospect of having to fork over a relatively nominal amount of money helps ensure that I will not be late.
Day-care providers, take note: G. remarks that the corollary to this finding is that once you establish that there is a price for everything, you need only jack the price to something outrageous (say, $5 for every minute late) to ensure complete compliance with the pickup time.
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Things like this often have unintended consequences. Obviously charging a nominal fee causes people to weigh the amount of money vs. the convenience of being able to pick up their child late.
I imagine that jacking the price up to something outrageous might also cause some parents to look for alternate child care options. Or file lawsuits that the penalty is not reasonable. (Whether or not the lawsuits have any validity is effectively beside the point, since I suspect most child care facilities don't have the resources to fight such suits and stay in business.)
Finding the point at which you get the desired result without the unhappy side-effects is the trick.
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I imagine that jacking the price up to something outrageous might also cause some parents to look for alternate child care options. Or file lawsuits that the penalty is not reasonable. (Whether or not the lawsuits have any validity is effectively beside the point, since I suspect most child care facilities don't have the resources to fight such suits and stay in business.)
Finding the point at which you get the desired result without the unhappy side-effects is the trick.
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