Keywords
Essay industry, web applications, structure coursework, essays, sale of essays
Abstract
This paper considers the essay industry. The essay industry is an Internet-based collection of firms that provide students with papers, written by others, which satisfy their coursework assignments. We find that the industry is thriving. The firm failure rate is low, profits are high and revenues are, at a minimum, $100 million. Although there are laws in many states prohibiting the sale of essays, we find that these laws are not generally enforced. We review the pricing structure of the industry and the typical compensation rates of their employees. We consider anti-plagiarism software and conclude that it has limited effectiveness in undermining the essay industry. We compare the cost of the product offered by the essay industry to the out-of-pocket cost of tuition and conclude that it is relatively affordable. All of these findings lead us to conclude that the industry will not expire of its own accord. Faculty and administrators need to be cognizant of its existence and structure coursework so as to minimize the utilization of the services the industry provides.
Recommended Citation
Owings, S., & Nelson, J. (2014). The Essay Industry. Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Economics, 15(1). Retrieved from https://openspaces.unk.edu/mpjbt/vol15/iss1/1
