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At the Beijing Airport
At the Beijing airport as the customs official questions you, you get to rate them - there is an electronic box, hidden from their view, that asks for your rating of service. Damn, this is better than democracy! I was "extremely satisfied."
On the other hand, MarginalRevolution is blocked but I can still access Typepad.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on June 18, 2008 at 09:47 PM in Travels | Permalink
Comments
I think their boss or managers don't care the rating, and their remuneration will not be affect. It is just a cheat.
Many URLs were blocked by China, If you want to access, try Firefox+TOR
Posted by: Ccming at Jun 18, 2008 10:18:44 PM
This is a great example of why we need a multipolar world. Having many different centres of culture and systems of approach means that many different solutions to problems (such as poor customer relations with government officials) will be tried.
In a few months, tens of thousands of Americans will be home from the olympics, and asking why the USA doesn't have such a system.
Posted by: doctorpat at Jun 18, 2008 10:25:34 PM
Hah. Tyrone would know that the really run way to run the customs station would be to have the rating appear to be hidden from the guard, but to give the guard a realtime readout of the choice.
Can't anyone here run an evil dictatorship anymore?
Posted by: Beau De Ville at Jun 19, 2008 12:15:24 AM
ccming,
I guess it depends on what they are trying to prevent or cause to occur.
If I were trying to prevent border guards from coercing bribes, this would seem to be a great way to go about reducing such bribes.
On the other hand if it was used to encourage courteous service in the US amongst unionized bureaucrats, it would probably have pretty close to zero effect. Although that said, it might be a good way to get people to vent in a nondestructive way.
Posted by: happyjuggler0 at Jun 19, 2008 1:01:57 AM
Based on what I saw in China, the rating is usually related to the promotion and other benefits of the worker. This kind of system is also in banks and many other places in China.
Posted by: at Jun 19, 2008 2:20:46 AM
As surprising as it may sound, there is a lot more democratic going-ons in China than in USA. True, citizens are not allowed to vote (well, technically they're allowed to vote if the join the Communist Party, but most people can't be arsed to be involved in politics - just like say... EVERYWHERE else in the world), but hey, since when has any country asked for its people's opinions on where to build a stadium, and follow what the people say (that's what they did for the olympics stadiums - massive votes)?
Posted by: Chewxy at Jun 19, 2008 4:19:20 AM
So they asked the opinions of people about where to put those kazillion dams?
Posted by: Sanjeev at Jun 19, 2008 7:44:56 AM
This calls to mind an old story of mine:
Beijing: one minute at the passport contol counter (no questions asked; only a smile and a xiexie). The same night I went out and spent my time in a smoky bar until 5 am.
The land of the free: ten minutes at immigration where I was questioned like some sort of criminal. No smoky or 5 am bars.
Posted by: Dave at Jun 19, 2008 11:05:56 PM
Perhaps the guard with the democratically selected lowest rating is made to face the firing squad.
Posted by: Abhishek at Jun 20, 2008 1:23:18 AM
this rating system is widespread in China. Just go to a bank or
postal service etc. It's a few years old, and it would be an interesting
research question to examine its effects.
Posted by: wz at Jun 20, 2008 5:37:30 PM
And, are you sure the marginal revolution is blocked? I vaguely remember
accessing it in Beijing this summer.
Sometimes it all depends on the connection speed. Often times a website
that I can access in one city of China cannot be accessed in another city.
Posted by: wz at Jun 20, 2008 5:39:58 PM
After you come out of immigration into the terminal area of the Beijing airport among the first things you see is a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet!
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff Smith at Jun 21, 2008 10:13:21 AM
