Hobo Economicus
Abstract The central implication of maximising behaviour amid competition is that rates of return tend toward equality. We test that implication in a market whose participants have the traits that behavioural economics suggests should make it hardest to find evidence of maximisation: the market for panhandling at Metrorail stations in Washington, DC. We find that stations with more panhandling opportunities attract more panhandlers and that cross-station differences in hourly panhandling receipts are statistically indistinguishable from zero. Panhandling rates of return thus tend toward equality. Extreme ‘behavioural’ traits do not prevent maximisation in this market.
2000 ◽
Vol 41
(2)
◽
pp. 271-273
Keyword(s):
2000 ◽
Vol 41
(1)
◽
pp. 133-136
1999 ◽
Vol 37
(5)
◽
pp. 371-371
◽
Keyword(s):
Keyword(s):