I was recently traveling in California and I was amazed at the quality of the service in restaurants and shops. No matter how you look, how you're dressed, you get a nice smile, suggestions and caring and on top of that a great selection. This led me to ask myself, is this amazing service the consequence of competition (restaurants want to offer the best experience to attract as many customers as possible), tips, or just culture?
In Geneva, I personnaly obtain the worst service that you can possibly imagine, to the point where I am scared to ask for too much when I am out, for example for a glass of water. Is this because of its protestant history or its lack of competition?
So how about trying to identify the determinants of international differences in the quality of service in restaurants? Some economists would be happy to prove the power of capitalism at work, others would be happy to show that only culture, or social capital explains service quality.
I also came to wonder if waitresses were so nice to me beacuse they want a big tip (it can between 10 and 20% by law), or simply because they are nice people. If the former is the case, they surely are good actresses! I guess one way to find out would be to measure at what speed their smile dissapears from their face, the faster the faker.
A good possible paper, I think.
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You can find a lot of answers in this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgBGRfSvfxY
My understanding was that because the minimum wage in the USA is such a pittance, waitstaff tend to rely on tips for a sizeable portion of their income. So they probably have a good incentive to be nice to their customers!
thanks for your comments guys...so would you say if we put in place the "tip" system in Geneva service will get better?
There are two other aspects to consider: 1) who gets the tip? If tips are shared with the cook and other waitstaff, the incentive effect is dumpened, 2) competition - not among restaurants, but in the market for waitstaff. The higher, the bigger the (fake?) smiles on the waitress' face. Be it culture, lack of competition, lack of sex, haircut, bad weather or any other control variable, the quality of service in Geneva is pitiful-we all agree.
Interestingly in terms of the incentive effect, Australian waitstaff do not depend on tips for their income yet the service is invariably sincerely pleasant. Maybe it's the beautifully perfect beach weather we are having at the moment which chills everyone out, who knows......
For Cam: so you agree that one needs to control for the weather, don't you?
well if in Australia and the US you get good service, one could argue it is simply anglo-saxon culture...but this doesnt apply to England, does it? And it applies to Quebec, which doesnt have an anglo-saxon culture...one thing in common of all these places: colonial history. The impact of colonial history on the quality of service. And also on the tip story, see next post!
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