On Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 07:36:26AM +0530, shiv sastry wrote: > Mumbai police are more likely to be criminals because of their low salaries.
not because of their low salaries alone, but because their salaries are much lower in proportion to the power they have. whether due to reputation or systems design, employees at banks have (individually) less power, in proportion to the salaries they receive. to make this really simple, if you have the ability to steal exactly (and only) 1000, you are more likely to do it (all else being equal) if you are paid a salary of 1000 than if you are paid a salary of 10000. so you can reduce the chances of the theft taking place either by reducing the amount available to be stolen, or increasing the salary, or both. of course, all else need not be equal; poorly paid people with greater power could in principle be selected on the basis of their above-average levels of honesty. in that case, those people would steal less in proportion to their income (and opportunity). i don't know if the average policeman is in fact more innately honest than the averate credit card company employee. if they are _equally_ honest, the former is likely to be more corrupt... -rishab
