2023年经济学人 圣诞节送礼的低效性(1)（在线收听）

The inefficiencies of Christmas.

圣诞节的低效性。

'Tis the season to be jolly - and to feign delight at disappointing Christmas presents.

这是一个充满欢乐，还要在收到令人失望的圣诞礼物时假装高兴的节日季节。

The average British adult splurged around ￡550 ($667) on gifts in 2021, according to one survey.

根据一项调查，2021年，英国成年人在礼物上的平均花费约为550英镑（即667美元）。

But a back-of-the-envelope calculation by Ian Stewart of Deloitte, a consultancy, suggests that the volumes of unwanted stuff in effect destroyed around ￡3bn of the ￡25bn value.

但德勤咨询公司的伊恩·斯图尔特做出的粗略计算表明，250亿英镑的礼物中约30亿英镑都是无用的东西。

Though many see Christmas as a time of generosity and cheer, others see waste.

尽管许多人认为圣诞节是慷慨送礼，营造幸福氛围的日子，但也有人认为圣诞节送礼就是一种浪费。

A small number study its inefficiencies.

有一小部分人研究了它的低效性。

In 1993 Joel Waldfogel of the University of Minnesota identified a "deadweight loss" when he studied the difference between the cost of seasonal gifts and how much their recipients valued them after they had accounted for exchanges and put sentimental value aside.

1993年，明尼苏达大学的乔·沃德弗格研究了季节性礼物的价格，礼物接受者在交换礼物，并将礼物的情感价值搁置在一旁后对它的重视程度，以及两者之间的差异，并在研究中发现了一种“无谓的损失”。

Today he says that on average cash spent on another person yields around 85% of the benefit of cash they spend on themselves.

沃德弗格表示，如今平均而言，人们花在别人身上的现金产生的收益约占他们花在自己身上的现金产生收益的85%。

Although gift-giving may make some people happy, it's "a lousy way to allocate resources," he says.

他说，虽然送礼可能会让一些人感到高兴，但这是“一种糟糕的资源配置方式”。

There are ways to reduce Christmas losses.

有一些方法可以减少圣诞节出现的经济损失。

One is the use of gift cards, which give recipients some choice.

一是使用礼品卡，让礼物接受者自己选择礼物。

But Britons don't seem to like them much.

但英国人似乎不太喜欢这种方式。

A survey of adults from Ipsos, a pollster, found that 43% of Americans, 40% of the French and only 29% of Britons were planning to give them for Christmas 2022.

民调机构益普索集团对成年人进行的一项调查发现，43%的美国人、40%的法国人和仅仅29%的英国人计划在2022年圣诞节送礼品卡。

Making it easier to return unwanted gifts should help.

二是简化退货流程，让人们能够轻松退回不想要的礼物。

Al Gerrie, chief executive officer of ZigZag, a returns platform, says that when a gift message or gift wrap is used in fashion retail (that is, for a present) return rates tend to be considerably higher.

退货服务平台Zigzag的首席执行官阿尔·格里表示，时尚零售（即礼物）中，有礼品赠言或礼品包装的，退货率往往会高很多。

As e-commerce has expanded, so too have ways of sending stuff back.

随着电商的发展，退货的方式也在不断变化。

But returns are a headache for retailers.

但退货问题很让零售商头疼。

On average it costs between ￡5 and ￡10 to put a product back on the shelves, says Mr. Gerrie, thanks to the shipping, inspecting and repackaging required.

格里表示，由于需要运输、检验和重新包装，将一款退货产品重新上架的平均成本在5英镑到10英镑之间。

(In January, Father Christmas's elves must conduct "sniff tests" to see if a garment has been worn.)

（在一月份，圣诞老人的精灵们必须进行“嗅觉测试”，检查衣服是不是全新的。）

Increasingly, retailers are charging shoppers to return goods.

越来越多零售商对购物者退货收取费用。

ZigZag's data suggest the number of paid-for returns has more than doubled since last year, while the number of free returns has fallen.

Zigzag的数据显示，自去年以来，付费退货的数量增加超过一倍，而免费退货的数量有所下降。

That, though, may mean more consumers are stuck with unwanted gifts.

然而，这可能意味着有越来越多的消费者无法摆脱无用的礼物。