Thaler says mental accounting. As with financial accounts, people need to close their mental books and balance their accounts. But people in different professions unconsciously balance their books at different times. Standard wage employees may balance books on a biweekly or monthly basis, which is typically when they get paid. Cab drivers, in contrast, balance their mental books every day. Since business is brisker in the rain, once drivers hit their mental income targets for the day, they go home, leaving fewer cabs when you really need them.
Tags: cabs, mental accounting
August 12, 2008 at 8:31 am |
Isn’t it simply because there’s increased demand for cabs on rainy evenings?
August 12, 2008 at 10:52 am |
It’s not that the supply of cabs is geared to non-rainy days? Such that when it’s rainy, *everyone* is trying to get a cab, and there aren’t enough to go around?
August 12, 2008 at 12:56 pm |
This post is the very definition of over-thinking. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just reached my mental BS target for the day, so I’m going to go ahead and stop reading the internet now.
November 19, 2008 at 10:31 pm |
Hmmm. Possibly. But I’d like to see some data with cab drivers as the source used for this.
The reason I think it’s possible is because I’ve talked to drivers who drove longer hours on slow days because they had a self-assigned target for the day.
January 18, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
That’s could be the reason why it so hard to get cab during raining day especially during the night.
December 12, 2009 at 4:45 am |
This post is the very definition of over-thinking. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just reached my mental BS target for the day, so I’m going to go ahead and stop reading the internet now.
+1