Rationing Can Backfire: The "Day without a Car" in Mexico City
研究发现墨西哥城限制每辆车每周限行一天的政策反而增加了总驾驶量，因为家庭购买额外旧车并增加周末驾驶，导致政策适得其反，带来高福利成本。
A ban restricting each car from driving on a specified weekday is found to have increased total driving in Mexico City. Because of the ban, cars effectively represent “driving permits,” and some households have bought an additional car and increased their driving. Greater use of old cars, congestion effects, and increased weekend driving may also have contributed to the disappointing results. The ban has high welfare costs and does not deliver the intended benefits of reduced driving—quite the contrary. The experience provides an interesting lesson in applied welfare economics. Theory indicates that this is a costly way of reducing traffic and pollution. But the finding that the strategy is counterproductive could be made only with applied quantitative analysis.