This is an incredibly astute observation, although I've seen the most flagrant forms of cheating/avarice from Indian and Asian students who are simply trying to avoid studying. Asian and Indian society instills a much stronger desire to succeed on paper than intellectually, and I observed this when TA'ing for a CS class comprised primarily of international students. Throughout the semester I was getting 10 - 30 emails a day regarding petty grading/exam issues, with the occasional email from someone asking a real question.