[CQ-Contest] Re: penalty

[Rajiv Dewan, N2RD]

Since Pat brought in the issue of incentives, perhaps it is time to reveal
my dismal profession: economist.

I think that it is reasonable to reduce penalties now that almost exhaustive
log checking is done.

Logic:  Make an analogy with speeding.  If only a few perps are caught then
the penalty needs to be high so as to set an example/modify behavior.  This
need not be so if a perp is caught almost surely.

Assuming that penalties arise from carelessness (under control of the
operator) and othe causes (not under control of the operator), very high
penalties will cause people to "overinvest" or become obsessive about
controlling errors.

To me at least, this sounds like less fun.

Regards,
Rajiv, N2RD


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