Éléments d'analyse économique des faux diplômes

Despite the fact that fake degrees have been used since the creation of legitimate diplomas, the fake degrees business is reaching epidemic proportions, notably because of globalization, new information and communication technologies and ?diploma race?. We define the concept of fake degrees and distinguish different kinds of fakes. We also indicate the main functions of diplomas in the economic literature. We identify the supply and demand sides of the market of fake degrees and also consider other affected parties. We show that this growing business generates several negative spillovers that harm, among others, non traditional education institutions such as distance learning institutions and experience based learning. Moreover, we show that French law is well-equipped to deal with production, marketing and use of fake degrees. We also analyze some counter strategies that agents design and implement in order to prevent faking degrees from an efficiency and effectiveness viewpoint.