Doctoral Dissertation Research: The "Give" and "Take" on Restaurant Tipping

本研究利用实验室实验和从弗吉尼亚州里士满的几家餐馆收集的调查数据，探讨了餐馆小费的各个方面，以及它们对消费者（“给予”）和服务员（“索取”）的影响。几个消费者方面的问题将得到解决。例如，桌子的大小对顾客给小费的动机有什么影响？标准的经济理论预测小费大小和餐桌大小之间的反比关系，但这种关系在经验上成立吗？另外，餐桌的构成对顾客给小费的动机有什么影响？比如，女性给的小费比男性多吗？有大量的经济学研究发现，女性比男性更慷慨，但这在给小费的情况下是否也适用，尤其是当男性在女性在场的情况下给小费时？最后，本研究考察了最近（2002年6月）最高法院在美国诉Fior d'Italia公司一案中的裁决，该裁决允许美国国税局根据信用卡收据估计餐馆的小费收入。在服务端，本研究调查了小费池对服务努力的影响。小费池是一种服务报酬的方法，在这种方法中，服务人员平等地分享他们所有的小费。服务是否有标准的小费安排，即服务员自己保留顾客的所有小费，这比小费分摊安排下的服务要好？这里，标准经济学理论认为，标准小费安排下的服务应该超过小费池安排下的服务。本研究探讨的问题有几个重要的含义。首先，这项研究应该有助于解释为什么有些餐馆在大桌子的账单上增加了自动服务费，而另一些则没有；其次，它提供了洞察为什么有些餐馆比其他餐馆更有可能使用小费池作为服务员报酬的方法。第三，本研究将提供证据，证明最高法院对“美国诉意大利饭店”一案的裁决的影响，该裁决允许美国国税局根据信用卡收据估计餐馆的小费收入。全国餐馆协会的一份声明说：“十家餐馆中有七家是小企业，其中许多餐馆的利润微薄。坦率地说，这个决定可能意味着一家餐馆是继续营业还是关门。”最后，经济学中有相当多的关于性别差异的文献，这些文献分析了男性的行为是否与女性不同，以及为什么不同。这项研究将通过探索小费行为的性别差异来补充这些文献。

Using both laboratory experiments and survey data collected from several Richmond, Virginia restaurants, this study explores various aspects of restaurant tipping, along with their implications for both the consumer (the "give") and the server (the "take"). Several consumer-side issues will be tackled. For example, what impact does the size of the table have on a customer's incentive to tip? Standard economic theory predicts an inverse relationship between tip size and table size, but does this relationship hold empirically? Also, what impact does the composition of the table have on a customer's incentive to tip? For example, do women tip more than men? There is a good deal of research in economics that finds that women are more generous than men, but does this also hold true in a tipping situation, especially when men tip in the presence of women? Finally, this study examines the recent (June 2002) Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Fior d'Italia, Inc., which allows the IRS to estimate a restaurant's tip income based on credit card receipts. On the server side, this study investigates the effect of tip pooling, a method of server remuneration in which servers share all of their tips equally among each other, on server effort. Is service under a standard tipping arrangement, whereby the server retains, for himself, all of his customers' tips, superior to service under a tip pooling arrangement? Here, standard economic theory says that service under a standard tipping arrangement should exceed that under a tip pooling arrangement. The issues that are examined in this study have several important implications. First, this study should help to explain why some restaurants add an automatic service charge onto bills at large tables, while others do not; secondly, it provides insight into why some restaurants are more likely than others to use tip pooling as their method of server remuneration. Third, this study will provide evidence of the effect of the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Fior d'Italia, Inc., which allows the IRS to estimate a restaurant's tip income based on credit card receipts. A statement by the National Restaurant Association said that "Seven out of 10 restaurants are small businesses, many of which operate with slim margins. Quite frankly, this decision could mean the difference between a restaurant staying in business or closing its doors." Finally, there is a fairly sizeable literature in economics on sex differences, which analyzes both whether, and why, men behave differently than women. This study will add to that literature by exploring sex differences in tipping behavior.