The Economics of Beggars
Ananta Karki, 53, earns Rs. 200-300 a day. His wife, Til Maya and son earn about the same. So, at the minimum, his family earns a total of Rs.600 a day, which sums up to a total of Rs. 18,000 a month.
Raju Gurung, 25, has been on the same job for 22 years now. He is now the self-proclaimed boss and earns about Rs. 400 a day! His monthly salary amounts to Rs. 12,000.
Both these men--Ananta and Raju--are in the same profession and work in the same place. No, they do not work for INGO's, nor are they politicians; they both beg at Mahankal temple.
Baburam Kharel wrote an interesting piece titled "Beggers by choice and raking it in" in kantipuronline.com on March 25th. The piece, which highlights the economics of Beggars, is an incredible case of market at work.
Both Ananta and Raju, as the writer claims, seem to have taken this profession by choice, a profession in which these men derive maximum utility, given their skill and educational level. By engaging in voluntary exchanges-- donors by being good devotees of “god” and beggars by receiving what they are looking for—both parties become well off. This promotes welfare in the society.
It is highly unlikely that a lot of Beggars read kantipuronline.com, but if they do, then this new information could lead to a steep increase in the number of beggars at Mahankal, thus reducing their--Ananta and Raju's--monthly income. Since this is very costly information--not available to beggars who do not read kantipuronline.com--I doubt there will be any significant increase in the number of beggars at the temple. So, there should not be any downward pressure in revenue of the existing beggars due to an increase in the number of beggars for a foreseeable period of time.
As these "rich" beggars bag handsome revenue, the spillover effect has also been palpabe on nearby restaurants and liquor stores. On Saturdays and Tuesdays, when most devotees come to the temple, the number of beggars reaches as high as 200. Some of them spend about Rs. 50 on liquor and food at nearby restaurants. Raja KC, who owns a restaurant nearby the temple, could not have been any happier. His profit is strongly correlated with the earnings of the beggars. As a stakeholder of this Beggar economy, Raja should invest heavily to create an environment that will enable the beggars to produce a healthy income at the temple.
If those beggars earned so much money, why are not other beggars there? First off, as I said earlier, the information is costly. Beggars do not know where they can make more money. For Ananta, he found it through the other experienced beggars. So it seems that "networking" is an invaluable skill that can come handy in this profession too. Second, if you are just a beginner, without any relevant experience, then you start at the bottom of the hierarchy. Unlike Raju Gurung, a self-proclaimed in-charge of the beggars, who gets to collect money that is offered at the temple, other beggars are left at the mercy of generous devotees. So, the unavailability of information and a stiff competition from the existing beggars make it difficult for any new comer to have any significant earnings at Mahankal.
Since I have this privilege of knowing inside information, I am going to "play beggar" at Mahankal for about two weeks next time I am in Nepal. At the same time I also want to assure Ananta, Raju, and other beggars that they should not fear me as I am not taking away their share of revenue; in fact, I have no other intention than helping them. I will collect some data, perform some analysis, and give some recommendations to Ananta, Raju, and other "aspiring beggars" on ways that will enable them to maximize their revenue.
The original article can be obtained at:
- http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=104585
