Brian,
I asked lot's of detailed questions about the services. Each firm
supplies a trash can of a similar size. The cans are almost identical.
Some are gray. Some are black. They usually have the name of the firm on
the side. They all have wheels and a hinged lid. They all have a bar for
the truck to hoist them. Each firm allows the homeowner to choose the day
of pickup. Firms charge about the same.
Cheers.
Andrew.
---------------------------------
Andrew Sellgren
Department of Economics, MSN 3G4
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
Tel: (703) 993-1124
Fax: (703) 993-1133
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://sellgren.gmu.edu
---------------------------------
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
> Brian Moore
> Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 7:16 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: garbage collection
>
>
> This is classic Armchair stuff.
>
> Could the products actually be different? For example 1 firm might give
> large trash cans to its customers for $25 - while another gives
> small trash
> cans for $12 - then households self select (though this does
> not explain
> why 1 firm doesn't offer both of these deals, or charge by the pound or
> container).
>
> Also, there are 2 puzzles here - how did the world get this way, and why
> doesn't it "revert" to what we would expect.
>
> At a minimum, one would expect the firms to organize themselves
> within the
> neighborhood (you take this street, I'll take that one) to take
> some level
> of advantage of scale economies described.
>
> >From the existence of the flyer it sounds like the situation
> with many firms
> has been persevering for some time...
>
> (Are you sure the student didn't make this up?)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Sellgren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Thursday, November 02, 2000 4:52 PM
> Subject: garbage collection
>
>
> >
> >One of my students came to me with a puzzle. In his community, garbage
> >collection is a fairly competitive industry. New residents are given a
> >flyer listing 15 different collection companies. They generally charge
> >about $15/month for one collection per week.
> >
> >Why are there so many collection companies? It would seem like there
> >would be economies of scale. For example, we could compare
> the costs of a
> >monopoly to the costs of an ``average'' competitor above. The
> competitor
> >on average travels 15 times farther between stops. This must consume
> >quite a bit more fuel and take longer, although I would admit
> that much of
> >the collectors' time is spent at any given stop.
> >
> >There is a public-policy puzzle as well: The plenitude of competition
> >increases the noise in the neighborhood.
> >
> >Thanks for any ideas.
> >Andrew.
> >
> >
> >---------------------------------
> >Andrew Sellgren
> >Department of Economics, MSN 3G4
> >George Mason University
> >Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
> >
> >Tel: (703) 993-1124
> >Fax: (703) 993-1133
> >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >Web: http://sellgren.gmu.edu
> >---------------------------------
> >
> >
>
>
