| "Choosing a product based on the value it provides you is not the same as accepting a bribe." Let's say I'm a professor, and it is an accepted part of my job to set homework, and provide feedback on that homework in the form of grades (or a % score) and some comments. Assume the subject I'm teaching doesn't change much year to year (as far as undergraduates are concerned anyway). So for the last 10 years my course has been based on the same edition of the same textbook. As it's now 10 years old, there are plenty of used copies available for $20, even though new copies are $50. Let's say a publisher approaches me with an offer that provides ME with more value: a textbook that comes with a code for online access to homework and automatic grading, good for one student for one year only. The catch? The students need to buy the textbook for $50 and, because it's the only way to get a code to allow students to submit homework, they can't buy a used copy. If I accept, then: - my students need to shell out $50 each for a new textbook (vs. the existing one which would have been effectively free, as they could recoup their $20 outlay by selling it at the end of the year) - I get paid the same, but the textbook company takes over some of my work If I'm the professor in this case, the textbook is offering me something of value (doing some work that I'm already being paid for through students' tuition fees paid to my employer) in exchange for me forcing my students to give the textbook company money. How is this different from accepting a bribe? |