Saturday, October 09, 2010

Price Discrimination: India and Disney World


The picture of the sign above is a good example of "price discrimination" at an archeological site in India, where citizens of India pay an admission fee of 10 rupees (about 25 cents) and "other citizens" pay $5 (or 250 rupees).

Another example of price discrimination are the many discounts at Disney World that are only available for resident of Florida.  

7 Comments:

At 10/09/2010 10:16 PM, Blogger Ed Dolan said...

Back in the days, the Soviet Union was a master at squeezing foreign tourists at absurd rates for museum passes, train tickets, seats and the Bolshoi, you name it. Used to make me mad as H***, especially when I was not just a tourist, but living there and teaching full time.

Question to ponder: In my principles text, I argue that price discrimination often (although perhaps not always) improves market performance. So why does it make me so mad when I run into the real thing?

 
At 10/09/2010 10:45 PM, Blogger Steamboat Lion said...

I saw the same thing in Baalbek in Lebanon - a sign in English announced one price and a sign in Arabic letter announced another much lower price - which prompted my Lebanese father in law to spend an inordinate amount of time arguing with the ticket seller that I ought to get in at the arab rate!

 
At 10/09/2010 10:47 PM, Blogger Steamboat Lion said...

...and at the resort town in Colorado where I live you can get 10% off at many places simply by announcing that you are local.

 
At 10/10/2010 10:13 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

This can work in other ways, too. I regularly drive the I-77 toll road through West Virginia. Most of the traffic is out of state, so the trip amounts to a tax on people passing through an area where there are few good (fast) alternative routes. Obviously some locals pay too, but the state can easily give them a break on trip passes, etc.

 
At 10/10/2010 6:53 PM, Blogger Chris Matheson said...

This is practiced in Egypt as well--different lines and different prices for "Arabs" and "non-Arabs." This often forces some Syrians and Lebanese to communicate with the ticket taker in Arabic, which really motivates me to improve my Arabic so I can mess with their heads!

 
At 10/10/2010 10:58 PM, Blogger vkd said...

To add to your astonishment - In China they have 2 menu's, one for locals and one for foreigners ... and you guessed it, foreigners menu the price is higher.

 
At 10/11/2010 7:14 AM, Blogger juandos said...

"To add to your astonishment - In China they have 2 menu's, one for locals and one for foreigners ... and you guessed it, foreigners menu the price is higher"...

Here's the reason why...

 

Post a Comment

<< Home