Discussion Essay
On a general scope, the acquiring of a college degree has been given a lot of significance. This aspect has been used to encourage students to work hard in school so as they can attain shiny college degrees that will guarantee them a job in the competitive world (Hickey, 63). Therefore, in as much as police do not necessarily require the skills attained during their courses in college to perform their duties as police officers, having a college degree when applying to be a police officer has been widely used in many countries across the globe. This aspect has ensured that the applicant pool is reduced to a minimum regardless of the fact that many countries require more people to apply to become police officers. Therefore, the use of a college degree is a form of measure to make sure that “more knowledgeable people” and those regarded as having toiled their way through life can be granted the opportunity before those that did not bother to acquire a college degree.
When basing the above to asymmetric information, it is evident that one party having a degree possesses more material knowledge when compared to the other party that does not have a college degree when applying for a police officer position. When it comes to moral hazard, the police force can decide to allow all applicants to apply without necessarily mentioning the aspect of “an individual is required to have a college degree in order to apply.” On the other hand, adverse selection results when the police force makes a decision to not recruit an individual just because of the lack of a college degree without asking for more information concerning other ventures which might prove crucial to the application process considering that police officers rarely use the skills acquired during their course in college. In relation to type I and type II errors, my answer tends to lie on the side of rejecting the truth. This is because it is common knowledge that police recruitment requires someone to have a college degree but in my opinion, it should not be the case. Through this, am more of a risk-taker kind of an individual instead of averting risk as it is the norm with most individuals.
Work cited
Hickey, M. Gail. “Go to College, Get a Job, and Don’t Leave the House Without Your Brother:” Oral Histories With Immigrant Women and their Daughters.” The Oral History Review 23.2 (1996): 63-92.