ABSTRACT
Professor O'Brien, lecturer in economics, believes that there are perverse incentives working in the motor trade which ensure that the garage which performs poorly is likely to do well. The widespread dissatisfaction with the standards of garage servicing isn't because there is something morally different about people who work in the car trade but simply the result of perverse economic incentives which the motor industry could remedy if it cared for us motorists. The incentives are perverse because both or the conditions for efficient operation of the system —knowledge, and the existence of competitive alternatives — are absent. The consumer of garage services generally does not know enough about the manufacturer's recommendations to argue about this; he lacks knowledge and he has no alternative as he is presented with a fail accompli when he goes to collect his car and he either pays the bill or does not get his car back.
