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I have done a fair amount of travelling and am well aware of the difference in pay and expectation of tipping.
When I lived in Italy, my Italian friends wanted me to go out to dinner with them because the presence of an American meant better service and food. Why? Because Americans typically left tips even though the gratuity was already included in the tip. So the servers strived to provide better service because they would make more money.
I have found the same thing to be true throughout Europe. I know that I don't have to tip because I have travelled and I check the travel guides before going anywhere. I don't tip in places where it is not the norm for that reason. I still get better service then the natives in the restaurant, you can tell by the number of refills and check ins and the time of food delivery.
This tells me that many people are not giving you their best effort when tips are not expected.
Tips are not a guarantee of good service but they do seem to improve service. I don't think that you would be able to pay a waiter enough to get the type of service people want when they go out. Minimum wage is not going to draw people into the business.
I don't mind tipping because I will leave a smaller tip when the service is bad but I don't buy for a second that the service would be as good without the tip.
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