> This is not an example of the endowment effect.
>This is just plain stupidity, of which there is plenty
>around.
I fail to see why it is not not. They were "endowed" with a certain thing, cheap rent. They had the opportunity to sacrifice that, in return for slightly less cheap rent, with the direct personal benefits to them being worth 4 times what they would have been giving up. They declined to trade something they were endowed with, even for 4 times its actual value.
Sounds like the same phenomenon as "endowment effect" to me. Just because it isn't a case-study in your text books doesn't mean it isn't the same thing.
And "just plain stupidity" is not a full explanation anyhow, it may be irrational and stupid, but the point is to understand and explain why it is so. Categorising the behaviour helps, by allowing us to see it in context, but the important thing is to know the reason.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas