Using surge pricing to allocate transportation services — such as Uber does with its cars — raises consumer welfare through various potential channels, such as increasing the supply of those services, allocating them to people who desire them the most, and reducing search and queuing costs.
Responses
Responses weighted by each expert's confidence
| Participant | University | Vote | Confidence | Bio/Vote History |
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 Daron Acemoglu |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Alberto Alesina |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Joseph Altonji |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Price responses to predictable surges (New Years) make sense.
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 Alan Auerbach |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 David Autor |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Amazing that more things aren't price this way -- they should be.
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 Katherine Baicker |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Abhijit Banerjee |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Marianne Bertrand |
Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Markus Brunnermeier |
Princeton | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Answer depends on particular market. Competition might be too limited on days with low supply and customers might be "taken for a ride."
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 Raj Chetty |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Judith Chevalier |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Welfare-reducing price discrimination outcomes are feasible, but the increase in supply in this example clearly enhances consumer welfare.
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 Janet Currie |
Princeton | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 David Cutler |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Mostly agree, but watch out for increasing the prices of subways and buses at times when lots of people want to ride them.
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 Angus Deaton |
Princeton | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Efficiency is NOT the same as welfare! This is probably a good policy, but some people will lose.
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 Darrell Duffie |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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This is basic microeconomics. Pricing different services differently improves the allocation of services, assuming no serious externalities.
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 Aaron Edlin |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Barry Eichengreen |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Liran Einav |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Ray Fair |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Amy Finkelstein |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Pinelopi Goldberg |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Austan Goolsbee |
Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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I know it pisses people off but it is true
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 Michael Greenstone |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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It is critical that the prices are transparent. Possible that redistribution goals are harmed but it is inefficient means to redistribute
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 Robert Hall |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Real-time market clearing pricing is gaining ground, over fierce opposition from all but a small band of economists and entrepreneurs.
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 Oliver Hart |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Consumer plus producer surplus should rise but in the absence of competition consumer surplus may not. With competition consumers will gain.
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 Bengt Holmström |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Caroline Hoxby |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Hilary Hoynes |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Kenneth Judd |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Steven Kaplan |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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I have first hand experience. Faced with long airport taxi lines late in the evening, the extra amount to use Uber is a bargain.
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 Anil Kashyap |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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The alternative is standing in the rain or waiting forever at rush hour, sometimes paying the premium is just much better
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 Pete Klenow |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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As long as it doesn't make them angry.
-see background information here |
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 Jonathan Levin |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Eric Maskin |
Harvard | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 William Nordhaus |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Maurice Obstfeld |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Allocation efficiency improves but there are gainers and losers and a "welfare" assessment depends on how one weights individual outcomes.
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 Emmanuel Saez |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Larry Samuelson |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Surge pricing enhances efficiency, for the reasons listed. Efficiency is not the only goal; anti-gouging laws reflect other worthy goals.
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 José Scheinkman |
Columbia University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Richard Schmalensee |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Uber is making a market, so this question just asks whether having price change to balance supply and demand is a good thing.
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 Carl Shapiro |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Robert Shimer |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Hyun Song Shin |
Princeton | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 Nancy Stokey |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Richard Thaler |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Uber's ability to increase supply in the short run appears small so price increase may be mostly a transfer to Uber.
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 Christopher Udry |
Northwestern | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Designed to get us in trouble with non-economist family and friends! It's not as simple as we teach in Intro; but claim is mostly true.
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