Sector: Consumer Services
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How Americans Can Tame Their Tipping Craze
Tipping isn’t a big deal in most of the world, but it is a seemingly intractable cultural norm in the United States. The long history of tipping in the United States – as this short animated video shows – has established an awkward equilibrium that binds restaurant owners, their service staff, and their customers together.…
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The Insurance “Canary” in the Climate “Coal Mine”
Significant price changes may represent much more than short-term tactical adjustments in a market. Sometimes, they are ominous signals that a market is facing fundamental problems that may require radical solutions if buyers, sellers, and other stakeholders do not heed the warnings. The current market for homeowners insurance in the United States might be sending…
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Japan’s Tourist Surge: Can Differentiated Pricing Help Control the Overflow?
Japan has too many tourists. Is differentiated pricing the solution? This article reports that Japan attracted an “unprecedented” 25 million tourists in 2023, as travelers took advantage of a sharp decline in the yen over the last five years. That’s why some Japanese tourist attractions have implemented significantly higher prices for tourists than for domestic…
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AI as a lie detector
Can AI also serve as a lie detector? Recently published research looked at how AI can recognize when people provide misleading information, such as when they apply for a mortgage or insurance. The team’s algorithms aim to reduce someone’s economic incentive to tell a “big lie” for financial gain. New Technique Helps AI Tell When…