[amadeusw]

You might have misunderstood the author. The author showed us that you can have an efficient system without the vertically integrated middleman corporate structure. He described how it is a novelty and runs differently than what he's used to, but it is the natural course of business in many parts of the world. He did not participate in poverty tourism and Ecuadorians are not disenfranchised poor people just because they don't follow the lifestyle that you're used to.

[cameldrv]

I think that you misunderstand HogFeast. The author drops in to town with American style money. The people who are serving him, for example, driving the furniture delivery pickup truck, are all almost certainly working for very little money. The convenience he experiences is possible because there are a bunch of underemployed drivers with pickup trucks all waiting for someone to buy furniture. Then they drive across town and come right back.

The IKEA model would be to load up a truck at a distribution center, have a preplanned route, and a big truck, and knock out a whole bunch of deliveries at once. This is less convenient for the customer, because they don't get instant gratification, and they have to wait at home for the delivery in some 4 hour window. On the other hand, it's much more efficient for the delivery company, because they're probably delivering about 4x as much furniture per driver per day. That will lead to some combination of better wages for the driver, cheaper delivery, or more profit for the furniture company.

You certainly could call up a moving company, have them come to IKEA with you, load up the furniture, and take it home, but it would cost a lot more than what he's paying in Ecuador. The reason is that the driver in Ecuador doesn't expect to make very much money by the standards of the author's western salary.

[titanomachy]

"That will lead to some combination of better wages for the driver, cheaper delivery, or more profit for the furniture company."

Realistically: the driver will be paid close to minimum wage because he doesn't have any rare skills, and the customer will be charged as much as possible. The owners of the company will probably get decent return on their capital, though.

[cameldrv]

It depends on the economic and political climate. The efficiency aspect is undeniable -- the IKEA style driver is able to deliver more furniture in a work day.

As for who that efficiency accrues to, under properly competitive conditions, the customer should get most of it, and in fact, this type of furniture delivery is generally pretty cheap in the U.S.

What the driver gets depends largely on the aggregate supply/demand for low skilled labor, and labor's ability to bargain. Fifty years ago in the U.S., for example, low skilled labor, particularly in the trucking industry could do a lot better than today.