1. Explain how the imposition of a fine for tardy parents at a day care center may have altered the motivations of these parents.
If something needs to get done you hit them where it counts, their wallets. If parents with children at the day care suddenly knew that they would have to pay to pick up their kids late then they would make the extra effort - have the incentive - to come on time for fear of being unnecessarily charged more money. At least that is what they thought would happen. When this was put into practice the tardyness of parents increased. The guilt they were supposed to feel was bought off for $3.
2. What is an incentive? How does it relate to the study of economics?
In Freakonomics an incentive described as "a means of urging people to do more of a good thing or less of a bad thing." It is the motivation to change something in almost anything. In economics, if there is a problem with a good, service, or a marketplace then economists have the incentive to change it.
3. What examples can you think of where moral or social incentives and economic incentives are both present? Are the different incentives complementary or competing? For each of the cases you cite, which do you think is the stronger incentive?
The anti-smoking campaign put multiple incentives to smokers. For the sin-tax of $3-per-pack (economic), the banning of cigarettes in restaurants (social), and the U.S. government asserting that terrorists raise money by selling black-market cigarettes (moral) these are all incentives not to buy cigarette
4. Describe some ways in which a school teacher might be able to improve the scores of his or her students on a standardized test.
Working directly from the standardized tests topics from the past
Getting the questions from study packets given out by the test people themselves
With what infomation is being taught make sure the students are retaining the infomation
5. How has a well motivated and seemingly benign government requirement to administer standardized tests to grade school students had unintended and malicious consequences?
Can you think of other examples of government regulations that were imposed to achieve one goal but have had unanticipated consequences?
Students who have to take the tests not only are judging themselves but their teachers and their school. Testing is argued to increase the standard of learning. It is also argued that certain students are unfairly penalized and the stakes are to high. This line of thinking is not just exist in school testing but in ecnomics and government as well. Anything from failed policies to a new bill can backfire dramatically.
6. Explain how Levitt devised a means of examining student test scores to uncover evidence of cheating teachers. Explain also why Levitt’s analysis of the data constituted evidence, but not proof, of cheating.
Levitt explains that cheating teachers so by systematically changing the students answers. However, this method does not work. The test that the teacher changes is most likely a poor student and easier questions on the test that he got wrong (that the teacher did not change) don't match up with the harder write answers (that the teacher did change.) This brings up a theory of how teachers cheat but it does not prove it. It is possible (though unlikely) that the student did get harder questions right while he got the easier questions wrong. In other words, it is hard to prove if a teacher is cheating or not.
7. Explain what incentives, if any, a university might have to artificially improve the test scores and grades of its athletes.
If a school has a high proforming team that is plenty incentive to keep the players on the team, regardless of their academic proformances.
8. Describe, in general terms, how sumo wrestling tournaments in Japan are arranged and how the rank of an individual sumo wrestler might change as a result of his performance at one of these tournaments.
Sumo wrestlers are treated as royalty in Japan. They are ranked by their proformance in tournaments. If at the end of a tournament a wrestler loses many of his matches he is booted out of the "best of the best" racking and forced to do the work of the "less than" wrestlers like washing, cleaning, etc. Also the "best of the best" make far more money and losing a tournament greatly decreases their pay.
9. Describe what it means for a Japanese sumo wrestler to be “on the bubble” and what incentives this wrestler and his opponent may have to “throw” a wresting match.
If during a tournament a wrestler in danger of being booted out of the "best of the best" is in a match againest another wrestler that has nothing to worry about why wouldn't the sumo wrestler with more wins let his opponent win.
10. How did Levitt construct a means of detecting evidence of cheating among Japanese sumo wrestlers? What evidence does he offer in support of his claim that some Japanese sumo wrestlers probably “throw” some of their matches?
Sumo wrestlers that have already won a spot in the top could easily beat the wrestler that is "in the bubble." The proformance standards do not mtach up. Then, we these same people meet again in a match neither at risk or "in the bubble" the stats seem to be that of what the match should have been when one was "in the bubble."
11. How did Paul Feldman set up his bagel business in the Washington, D.C. area? How did it differ from most business models?
While working for a big business in Washington D.C. he started to bring in bagels into work and basket with a suggested price then later he would collect the money and leftovers. After Feldman quit his job, he starting doing this in multiple businesses. This is different because it leaves the comsumer (the business getting the bagels) to pay for the bagels themselves. They are not forced to pay like you usually are, it is only a suggestion.
12.What do the authors of Freakonomics conclude from an analysis of the Paul Feldman’s bagel sales data? Do these conclusions match with economists’ expectations of human behavior?
This book feels that it gives wonderful insight to the human behavior and honesty. How much money Paul Feldman wasn't getting back was how much money he was being cheated out of. These results also match what economists have studied.
13.What window does an analysis of the sales data of Paul Feldman’s bagel business open? Why is this
usually a difficult subject for economists and others to analyze?
This bagel business provides evidence into white collar crime. In white collar crime there usually is not no victim but in this case Paul Feldman is the victim. When embezzlement happens there is not an problem (not one that needs to have action taken like in a murder or attack) the person who is commiting the crime says nothing and goes along with life "not hurting anyone." This makes white collar crime difficult to analyze.
14. Based on what can be learned from a study of sales data of Paul Feldman’s bagel business, what
variables affect the incidence of theft in an office setting?
Many factors came into play on whether a person payed for his bagel or not:
It really comes down to a matter of honesty do you or do you not pay for the food?
If something needs to get done you hit them where it counts, their wallets. If parents with children at the day care suddenly knew that they would have to pay to pick up their kids late then they would make the extra effort - have the incentive - to come on time for fear of being unnecessarily charged more money. At least that is what they thought would happen. When this was put into practice the tardyness of parents increased. The guilt they were supposed to feel was bought off for $3.
2. What is an incentive? How does it relate to the study of economics?
In Freakonomics an incentive described as "a means of urging people to do more of a good thing or less of a bad thing." It is the motivation to change something in almost anything. In economics, if there is a problem with a good, service, or a marketplace then economists have the incentive to change it.
3. What examples can you think of where moral or social incentives and economic incentives are both present? Are the different incentives complementary or competing? For each of the cases you cite, which do you think is the stronger incentive?
The anti-smoking campaign put multiple incentives to smokers. For the sin-tax of $3-per-pack (economic), the banning of cigarettes in restaurants (social), and the U.S. government asserting that terrorists raise money by selling black-market cigarettes (moral) these are all incentives not to buy cigarette
4. Describe some ways in which a school teacher might be able to improve the scores of his or her students on a standardized test.
Working directly from the standardized tests topics from the past
Getting the questions from study packets given out by the test people themselves
With what infomation is being taught make sure the students are retaining the infomation
5. How has a well motivated and seemingly benign government requirement to administer standardized tests to grade school students had unintended and malicious consequences?
Can you think of other examples of government regulations that were imposed to achieve one goal but have had unanticipated consequences?
Students who have to take the tests not only are judging themselves but their teachers and their school. Testing is argued to increase the standard of learning. It is also argued that certain students are unfairly penalized and the stakes are to high. This line of thinking is not just exist in school testing but in ecnomics and government as well. Anything from failed policies to a new bill can backfire dramatically.
6. Explain how Levitt devised a means of examining student test scores to uncover evidence of cheating teachers. Explain also why Levitt’s analysis of the data constituted evidence, but not proof, of cheating.
Levitt explains that cheating teachers so by systematically changing the students answers. However, this method does not work. The test that the teacher changes is most likely a poor student and easier questions on the test that he got wrong (that the teacher did not change) don't match up with the harder write answers (that the teacher did change.) This brings up a theory of how teachers cheat but it does not prove it. It is possible (though unlikely) that the student did get harder questions right while he got the easier questions wrong. In other words, it is hard to prove if a teacher is cheating or not.
7. Explain what incentives, if any, a university might have to artificially improve the test scores and grades of its athletes.
If a school has a high proforming team that is plenty incentive to keep the players on the team, regardless of their academic proformances.
8. Describe, in general terms, how sumo wrestling tournaments in Japan are arranged and how the rank of an individual sumo wrestler might change as a result of his performance at one of these tournaments.
Sumo wrestlers are treated as royalty in Japan. They are ranked by their proformance in tournaments. If at the end of a tournament a wrestler loses many of his matches he is booted out of the "best of the best" racking and forced to do the work of the "less than" wrestlers like washing, cleaning, etc. Also the "best of the best" make far more money and losing a tournament greatly decreases their pay.
9. Describe what it means for a Japanese sumo wrestler to be “on the bubble” and what incentives this wrestler and his opponent may have to “throw” a wresting match.
If during a tournament a wrestler in danger of being booted out of the "best of the best" is in a match againest another wrestler that has nothing to worry about why wouldn't the sumo wrestler with more wins let his opponent win.
10. How did Levitt construct a means of detecting evidence of cheating among Japanese sumo wrestlers? What evidence does he offer in support of his claim that some Japanese sumo wrestlers probably “throw” some of their matches?
Sumo wrestlers that have already won a spot in the top could easily beat the wrestler that is "in the bubble." The proformance standards do not mtach up. Then, we these same people meet again in a match neither at risk or "in the bubble" the stats seem to be that of what the match should have been when one was "in the bubble."
11. How did Paul Feldman set up his bagel business in the Washington, D.C. area? How did it differ from most business models?
While working for a big business in Washington D.C. he started to bring in bagels into work and basket with a suggested price then later he would collect the money and leftovers. After Feldman quit his job, he starting doing this in multiple businesses. This is different because it leaves the comsumer (the business getting the bagels) to pay for the bagels themselves. They are not forced to pay like you usually are, it is only a suggestion.
12.What do the authors of Freakonomics conclude from an analysis of the Paul Feldman’s bagel sales data? Do these conclusions match with economists’ expectations of human behavior?
This book feels that it gives wonderful insight to the human behavior and honesty. How much money Paul Feldman wasn't getting back was how much money he was being cheated out of. These results also match what economists have studied.
13.What window does an analysis of the sales data of Paul Feldman’s bagel business open? Why is this
usually a difficult subject for economists and others to analyze?
This bagel business provides evidence into white collar crime. In white collar crime there usually is not no victim but in this case Paul Feldman is the victim. When embezzlement happens there is not an problem (not one that needs to have action taken like in a murder or attack) the person who is commiting the crime says nothing and goes along with life "not hurting anyone." This makes white collar crime difficult to analyze.
14. Based on what can be learned from a study of sales data of Paul Feldman’s bagel business, what
variables affect the incidence of theft in an office setting?
Many factors came into play on whether a person payed for his bagel or not:
- Weather
- Holidays
- Rank at work (People ranked higher are more likely to cheat)
- Shame
It really comes down to a matter of honesty do you or do you not pay for the food?
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