Passengers hate mental math — and other lessons from one billion New York City cab rides
From 2009 to 2013, Kwabena Donkor drove a taxicab through the heart of New York City to pay for college. It was a perfect stint while attending school, he recalls, because he wasn’t tied to a 9-to-5 that might keep him from an economics exam. It was during these trips that a seed for his recent scholarship was planted. “The personal experience helped me to ask questions beyond what one would just sit down and think abstractly about,” he says.
It always fascinated Donkor that even an uncomfortable or negative interaction with a passenger didn’t seem to affect whether and how much they tipped him. Why was that? He also began to wonder: Why do people even tip to begin with?
This piece originally appeared in Stanford Business Insights from Stanford Graduate School of Business. To receive business ideas and insights from Stanford GSB click here: (To sign up: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/about/emails)