Why I Always Do the Dishes

  I think it's fair to say that most people hate housework. Taking out the trash is a nuisance. No one likes the sight of a sink filled to the brim with dishes. Yet the dishes still get done, the trash still gets taken out, these collective goods almost always get achieved/consumed at some point or another. This is because as the consumption of these collective goods is delayed, the benefit from completing them goes up. For example, the value of taking out the trash when it's empty is zero, but as more trash is thrown out the total benefit of taking out the trash. This means that the marginal benefit for each roommate to take out the trash grows as well until one roommate's marginal benefit exceeds their marginal cost of taking out the trash. This happens because, in the small interest group of my roommates, there becomes a point where the group shifts from an intermediate group to a privileged group. As Stigler suggests, a privileged group will have one person bear the costs and all members will receive the benefit, in this case, the taking out of the trash. However, the matter of who takes out the trash and bears the cost is uncertain in this instance.

  For my roommates and me, I always do the dishes. This is because I enjoy cooking and cook practically every day of the week. While my marginal cost of doing the dishes is about the same as everyone else, my marginal benefit is significantly higher. I need to be able to use the sink, whether it be for straining pasta or something else. Since my benefit is much higher, I reach the point of MB = MC much faster than my roommates and therefore end up almost always doing the dishes. This means that there is no incentive for anyone else to do the dishes because I reach this point faster than anyone else, and they can free-ride off of my actions.