LSAT 21, Logical Reasoning I, Q15, LSATHacks

LR Question 15 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: In most corporations the salaries of executives are…

QUESTION TYPE: Principle

CONCLUSION: It’s incorrect to think that boards of directors will keep executive salaries under control.

REASONING: Most members of boards are themselves directors of other companies. They benefit generally from high executive salaries.

ANALYSIS: This is a rare type of question. I’ve called it principle, because we need to use a principle from the argument to criticize another situation.

The main point of criticism is that people can’t be expected to act appropriately if they set rules that indirectly affect their own interest.

___________

1. CORRECT. Doctors might set damages low. That way they won’t have to pay much if they themselves are later involved in a malpractice suit.
2. This just sounds like a decent way to prevent legislators from raising their own salaries. There’s no perverse incentive.
3. This sounds like an OK system. The workers will benefit if they produce valuable things.
4. Since the judges are retired, they have no professional incentive to bias the rankings.
5. This might produce the problem that everyone is ranked too low because you don’t want other people to get raises.

Recap: The question begins with “In most corporations the salaries of executives are”. It is a Principle question. Learn how to master LSAT Principle questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.

Hi, I'm Graeme Blake

Founder of LSAThacks; I scored a 177 on the LSAT.

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