Beggars of Opportunity
Have you ever wondered why people who beg on the side of the road are so successful in plying their trade?
If we remember anything from introductory economics, it would be that people respond to incentives. But who is incentivising whom and how does asymmetric information help beggars to continue their trade?
The act of begging entails one person who appears to be at a lower socioeconomic position persuading another for alms. In order to persuade that individual, certain tactics and tools must be used in order to make the sale. The art of begging follows similar procedures and principles of marketing products. In this case a beggar will use the setting, such as a street corner, Props such as tattered and/or dirty clothes and well as a punch line story, this is where a convincing story or some words neatly written on cardboard, that are the tell all story.
What is the incentive? The incentive is sympathy, many persons cannot resist saying yes to a blind man, a little child, the disabled and a heartwarming story. Seems like a perfect way to make a simple living.
But is it an honest living?
The beggar knows something that you don't know, the story could be made up, the clothes could be just as I described props and the sign generally is an indication of a lie, it is much easier for a person to read and believe a lie as opposed to the beggar having to look you in the eye and lie to you. This shows you the occurrence of asymmetric information led market failure.
If you are wondering I did just call it a market, "The Market for Begging", the market failure comes about as the there is a misallocation of alms from the real beggars to the career beggars. The failure comes about as fake beggars are more prominent so they get the first alms and the event where persons know about the career beggar so some persons no longer give alms to any beggar. Its more or a less a situation where the Good Beggars suffer for the bad beggars.
If we remember anything from introductory economics, it would be that people respond to incentives. But who is incentivising whom and how does asymmetric information help beggars to continue their trade?
The act of begging entails one person who appears to be at a lower socioeconomic position persuading another for alms. In order to persuade that individual, certain tactics and tools must be used in order to make the sale. The art of begging follows similar procedures and principles of marketing products. In this case a beggar will use the setting, such as a street corner, Props such as tattered and/or dirty clothes and well as a punch line story, this is where a convincing story or some words neatly written on cardboard, that are the tell all story.
What is the incentive? The incentive is sympathy, many persons cannot resist saying yes to a blind man, a little child, the disabled and a heartwarming story. Seems like a perfect way to make a simple living.
But is it an honest living?
The beggar knows something that you don't know, the story could be made up, the clothes could be just as I described props and the sign generally is an indication of a lie, it is much easier for a person to read and believe a lie as opposed to the beggar having to look you in the eye and lie to you. This shows you the occurrence of asymmetric information led market failure.
If you are wondering I did just call it a market, "The Market for Begging", the market failure comes about as the there is a misallocation of alms from the real beggars to the career beggars. The failure comes about as fake beggars are more prominent so they get the first alms and the event where persons know about the career beggar so some persons no longer give alms to any beggar. Its more or a less a situation where the Good Beggars suffer for the bad beggars.
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