The History of Tipping - From Sixteenth-Century England to United States in the 1910s

Ofer Azar

Economic History from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Tipping is a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon that challenges the traditional assumption of selfish economic agents who have no feelings and do not care about social norms. This article reviews the early history of tipping and offers an economic analysis of different aspects of tipping. Using the historical evidence, it then addresses two major questions about tipping: why do people tip? And does tipping improve service quality? The reasons for tipping changed over the years, but conforming to social norms and avoiding embarrassment were generally the main reasons. Tipping seems to improve service quality; the extent of the improvement varies across occupations.

Keywords: Tipping; History; Social norms; Feelings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J00 L80 N30 N70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-09-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec
Note: Type of Document - PDF
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de/econ-wp/eh/papers/0309/0309001.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The history of tipping--from sixteenth-century England to United States in the 1910s (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpeh:0309001

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