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Comment by reallymental | Hacker News Reader

They pay a non-decent amounts to these test takers, because they are desperate, and most likely not very well off. So they're already in the red when they appear for the job they are not qualified for.

Some do this because they think that the job market is skewed against them, and might also have the sentiments that these 'seats' within the companies are reserved for 'rich people' or the 'upper castes', when that's hardly the case. Bear in mind some companies/universities/schools only hire from a certain caste, that is a thing. One's caste is clearly mentioned in the Ration Cards, not sure if it's the case on the Aadhar Card.

Fining them for an opportunity they thought they were going to get by 'gaming the system they were gamed out of' is just kicking them repeatedly, and does no one any good.

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> They pay a non-decent amounts to these test takers, because they are desperate

And because the consequences are low. Anticipated shame [1] is an observed determinant in cheating frequency.

> does no one any good

It deters cheating. This does the honest test takers, e.g. those without the resources to pay "a non-decent amount" to cheat, a favor. It does employers, by being able to better trust exam results, a favor. And as a result, it does the entire economy a favor.

[1] https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/46025357/bf0...

Edited: Added link

Fining them is a way, I agree with you on that. But it's far from the best way.

The paper you provided[0] also goes on to talk about the future actions of an offender who has been caught in the act previously.

> It should be noted that being caught cheating in the past does not necessarily provide an accurate measure of high perception of being caught cheating in the future.

I'll concede to cherry picking for my arguments, but even anecdotally, cheaters will cheat, cost is an afterthought. People negatively affected (caught cheating and fined) will only remember the part about being fined. From their perspective, the organisation has just exploited them more, and you have just bred more resentment for your organisation within this community.

[0] https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/46025357/bf0...

Oh god I have no clue where this is coming from. I have never heard being hired based on caste. Are you sure about this or even have anecdotal evidence? Or you just heard this from someone?

Unlikely though it possible that I am living in my own bubble since I haven't applied to shoddy places ever so who knows.But as someone living here it really amuses me and seems hard to believe.

If fraud is rationalized with group identities then it is even more important to keep the price for cheating high, because the cost is also higher when group identities are involved. When the seeds for prejudice are already there, the main victims of that kind of fraud are not the would-be employers but all the involuntary peers who share the same marker.

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