Author Archives: rgattiker

Pay-What-You-Want pricing is probably the best pricing model if your goal is to run your company into the ground. This model is as simple as it sounds; a company provides a good or service, you consume it, then pay whatever you feel is a reasonable price. In this model, the consumer dictates the price of the good or service they are receiving, and the producer must accept it. For me, free is a perfectly reasonable price for everything!  The motivation for the PWYW model seems legitimate; buyers will theoretically trust producers due to their confidence, and producers have the chance Continue reading Pay-What-You-Want Pricing→

Throughout my time on campus, I have observed different individual behaviors motivated by environmental conscientiousness. Behaviors such as using a refillable water bottle seem to be very common. Similar to my peers, I like to think I am environmentally conscious, but do my actions align with my beliefs? How do we make decisions in order to minimize our individual impact on the environment? I believe that our environmentally conscious actions are not necessarily dictated by the benefits associated with those actions. For example, a student at this school would never dare use a plastic straw, but choose to fly home Continue reading Loggers Live Green: Environmentally Conscious Decision-making→

Non-market valuation relies on individual preference. As humans, we develop preferences knowing we have a finite existence. This limits our ability to value non-market goods because these values are derived from personal benefit during a finite time. Future benefits are discounted for this reason. The benefits from non-market goods endure for much longer than our lifespans. Is there any way to value non-market goods, such as free-flowing rivers, without bias? Are we fit to judge the value of clean and sustainable environments? I would argue that we are not given the current global environmental trajectory.  Given the drastic effect of Continue reading Limitations of Non-market Valuation→

In chapter four of Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational, he discusses the difference between social and market norms. Social and market norms guide much of our decision making, but they are not necessarily compatible. I have experienced the problems that arise when social and market norms come into conflict firsthand.  “Could you please come in here to help me out?” my mom said to me, “I’ll pay you $1.” Every good son should stop whatever they are doing when their mother is in need of help, right? Well, I did not. I was petting my dog in the living when Continue reading Favors Are Not For Sale→