Are you saying the more someone pays, the more honest the work/workers?
To some degree. As with anything, cost can be (although isn't necessarily) a measure of quality. Some guys will charge sky high and ruin the place, but no one experienced and reliable is going to be the cheapest.
Without delving into the fascinating world of mandated, job specific, material, and labor costs, I'll just say that El Cheapo contractors recognize that HOs don't have corporate or government money to spend, and that the HO had to personally work for every dollar of it, so the successful contractor in the housing renovation market is going to sell the way HOs buy: price. Those who don't wash out. The cut-corner business model is the only one ultimately marketable to customers who don't understand how to compare what they're paying for, so shady operators proliferate in the HO market. Same reason people buy chinese made products, and sometimes that's ok as long as they understand it isn't going to be great quality.
It's not that contractors are simply scoundrels (although many are). The good ones (with the exception of plumbers, who are all fat, lazy, slovenly, and evil) just don't bother much with the HO market. I take referral calls and that's it.