More on gender-based pricing...

The bill to ban gender-based pricing has passed second reading in the Ontario legislature. I blogged about this yesterday. Here's an excerpt from a report by the Fraser Institute.

...there are differences between men’s and women’s services that justify differential pricing: “Many salon owners and dry cleaners say there are sound business reasons for such disparities. Women tend to have longer hair, and their styles take more time. Women's clothing often has pleats, ruffles, lace, decorative buttons, or other doodads that require special care. Their shirts may be too small to fit old presses designed for men's clothing, so they have to be ironed by hand.” Activists against gender-based pricing argue that such differences should be accounted for by pricing based on effort. But the fact that business owners (female as well as male) have chosen gender-based pricing over item-based pricing would seem to imply that they find it more efficient, and more profitable in a competitive market.

What this bill doesn't address is how we can actually determine the motives behind pricing. There might be several reasons why deodorant for womean costs more. Are we now going to hire investigators? No, I don't imagine the gender police will will want to see nuance in pricing. In addition, this legislation will just force the way businesses price their services. For instance, hair salons could simply change the way they price to a system based on time - $30 per hour, for example. The results would still be the same, I imagine.