Re: Free Re-fills
I have noticed the entire Cape Cod region of MA also seems to shun the free refill pricing method, at least they did when I was there a few years ago. Is it possible their consumers have similar elasticity levels to those in Europe, especially given their high tourist composition? This policy seems to range from the Ruby Tuesday / Denny's mid range level restaurant to the more pricey and distinguished one of a kind store. Pat McCann GMU Undergrad On Sat, 8 Jul 2000, Bryan Caplan wrote: Related question: Why no free re-fills in Europe? -- Prof. Bryan Caplan [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan "Is there anything more distinctly understood by all men, than what it is to see, to hear, to remember, to judge? Yet it is the most difficult thing in the world to define these operations according to the rules of logical definition. But it is not more difficult than it is useless. Sometimes philosophers attempt to define them; but, if we examine their definitions, we shall find that they amount to no more than giving one synonymous word for another, and commonly a worse for a better." --Thomas Reid, *Essays on the Active Powers of Man*
Re: Free Re-fills
We have in Europe things that look like free-re-fills. In some French restaurants (but it's probably true in other european countries) you have "buffets" : you choose what you eat on a table and you eat as much as you wish. It's a good deal for the restaurant owner : more food eaten (but not much more) and less work in the kitchen and in the diner room : to choose the food you have to walk to the buffet and do the job of the waiter. Bryan Caplan a *crit : Related question: Why no free re-fills in Europe? -- Prof. Bryan Caplan [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan "Is there anything more distinctly understood by all men, than what it is to see, to hear, to remember, to judge? Yet it is the most difficult thing in the world to define these operations according to the rules of logical definition. But it is not more difficult than it is useless. Sometimes philosophers attempt to define them; but, if we examine their definitions, we shall find that they amount to no more than giving one synonymous word for another, and commonly a worse for a better." --Thomas Reid, *Essays on the Active Powers of Man*
Re: Free Re-fills
Rather than an elasticity explanation I would suggest a two part tarriff. The initial charge grabs the consumer surplus, MC is close to zero for soft drinks (mostly water) so p=MC is optimal. Fabio's real question, however, is why do some restaurants choose one policy and others another. This is hard to say. Two part tarrifs work well when customer demands are similar. Thus, restaurants which serve a specialized clientiele, serve only one type of meal etc. should offer free refills. Can this help to explain a related puzzle? Although we often think of free refills at all you can eat or family type restaurants, just about every *fine* dining establishment I know offers free refills on coffee, while McDonalds and Burger King don't offer free refills on anything. Alex
Re: Free Re-fills
Restaurants of what type and what were their corresponding policies? Best Regards, MG Is there any logic to whether restaraunts offer free refills for soda drinks? I've observed one street alone among three restaraunts
Re: Free Re-fills
Related question: Why no free re-fills in Europe? -- Prof. Bryan Caplan [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan "Is there anything more distinctly understood by all men, than what it is to see, to hear, to remember, to judge? Yet it is the most difficult thing in the world to define these operations according to the rules of logical definition. But it is not more difficult than it is useless. Sometimes philosophers attempt to define them; but, if we examine their definitions, we shall find that they amount to no more than giving one synonymous word for another, and commonly a worse for a better." --Thomas Reid, *Essays on the Active Powers of Man*
Re: Free Re-fills
At 21:16 00-07-08, you wrote: Related question: Why no free re-fills in Europe? -- It depends what you re-fill. If you have dinner in a Paris Bistrot roman (a chain of upper middle class fast food) and you take the smoked salmon, they will re-fill you as much as you want. Same with their chocolate pudding. If my previous hypethesis is true, this would mean that there is, in Paris, a large clientèle with an elastic demand for smoked salmon, and a small clientèle with a low, non-elastic demand. You want to price discriminate against the former, but not chase away the latter. Interestingly, the Bistrot romain serves very thin slices of smoked salmon, which they re-fill at will. There is no point to give customers more than they would be willing to pay for. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave. The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
