On Mon, 9 Sep 2002, Robin Hanson wrote: > Alex Tabarrok wrote: > >I agree with John's analysis of charity and signalling. I add only that > >a more plausible reason than the two that John gave for why people > >don't mow lawns is that lawn mowing is a private good and racing a > >public good. In other words, I can collect a donation from many people > >for racing but few people will pay me to mow my own lawn (or anyone > >else's)! > > Races are public goods?! How do I benefit if some other people run > a race with each other? Is this just due to some externality that > healthy people produce in general?
If the argument is that the race generates publicity which generates more support for the cause, then racing is a public good (or bad, depending on the nature of the cause I suppose). Eric Crampton > > Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu > Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University > MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 > 703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323 > >
