Given that I’m not allowed to write about the electoral observation mission to Sudan that I’m currently on, I’ll stick to random thoughts.. and bitching. I'll post photos soon though - hang in there. :)
Currently travelling the River Nile state (isn’t that a poetic name?) we have a driver and an interpreter, to whom we issue a rather nice daily per diem, especially given that we only eat out once a day - the rest is at our hotel (and that’s paid for). And we’re in a small town so really, it’s not a splurge place.
Yet nearly every evening, our driver hints that he wants to go the cheapest places, food stalls by the road, etc - where dinner will cost him 10% of the per diem. We usually find ourselves compelled to join, despite, well, doubtful hygiene. If we say we’re interested in the slightly more expensive place across the street, we get the look - the you-foreigners-can-afford-to-eat-chicken-while-I-must-save-my-money - look. So we end up eating beans. Again. Or, we eat the chicken but I tell them I’ll invite.
Even though the per diem was fixed precisely so we don’t end up eating beans, but rather an actual meal.
A couple of decades back my country’s embassy in Paris would give a nice housing allowing to its junior diplomats - telling them they should rent a nice place because it reflects on the embassy, especially that they’ll probably have foreign counterparts over for dinner, etc. But the diplomats got crappy and cheap places and pocketed the difference in the allowance.
To solve the problem, the embassy decided to pay for the rent of its diplomats up to a certain (very generous) ceiling; the diplomats then went out and found nice apartments, which is exactly what the embassy was going for. And it saved the difference, too.
The housing allowance, or the per-diem system in this case fails because the Save/Spend decision does not concern that person’s well being but another’s as well (me, or the embassy in the previous example). It’s a classic case of private cost/social benefit (or positive externalities) problem - in this case, the supply will always be below equilibrium. And we'll be eating fucking beans.
Wouldn’t it be easier if, instead of giving him a per diem, I’d just pay for all the meals? That way, the driver would be getting a nicer meal, I’d be getting a nicer meal, and perhaps I’d increase his daily wage marginally with the difference.
9 comments:
just eat the goddamn chicken mohammed. you've really got to get over it.
Well I can't do that, Diaa! Then I'd be out of inane topics to pontificate about!
When are you going to pontificate about the cow jam? I want to know about the cow jam, dammit!
We had a similar problem during our travels in Eastern Europe.
I don't understand how the driver will benefit if the meals aren't part of his per diem. He will not get a higher salary to compensate for him not eating beans. He will get better meals, but he will not be able to pocket the difference that he could have if he received a per diem that included fancy meals, ie. meat.
Correct; nor will the diplomat be able to pocket the difference in the housing allowance. Yet, and at the risk of sounding mean, the purpose is not to please the recipient but to achieve the goal of the organization giving the money - for the diplomat to have a presentable house; for the recipients of the per diem to use the damn money to eat!
Well now that you are done with the bitching you can invite the driver to a proper meal every time. Who knows maybe you will find something intriguing in the restaurants to rant about LOL!
I got typhoid in Sudan. I'd recommend not eating at all!
Mohammed,
why don't you ask the driver to drive you where you wanna go and then ask him to come back to get you at a fixed time. We used to do that (in Sudan as well.)Not becasue fo the moeny, but because we wanted some privacy form time to time. toilet visits and eating out were the only moment where we would have some privacy.
In this way he can do what he wants with his per diem, and so you also can. I don't see why he spends it as he likes but you can't. Because you're a guilty foreigner? eating the ebans won't make you less "guilty" or less foreigner in his eyes. You'll be just considered weak and a bit easy to manipulate I guess.
Well, this is just my subjective opinion of course, from my experience as an expat(white, young and female, on top of that!)in Sudan and other countries...
:-)
KJ -
I did! :)
Thingsonmymindgrapes -
Sorry to read that! I was lucky enough to leave with no new germs. :)
Maria -
I should've done that I guess.
luckily we did get to have private time when needed..
But the 'downtown' area was so small there was little possibility for a 'drop me here' kind of arrangement - the one time we considered going to different restaurant was a very uncomfortable one. :-/
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