During the past year, Pro-Tect Insurance Company's total payout on car-theft claims has been larger than the company can afford to sustain.  Pro-Tect cannot reduce the number of car-theft policies it carries, so it cannot protect itself against continued large payouts that way.  Therefore, Pro-Tect has decided to offer a discount to holders of car-theft policies whose cars have antitheft devices.  Many policyholders will respond to the discount by installing such devices, since the amount of the discount will within two years typically more than cover the cost of installation.  Thus, because cars with antitheft devices are rarely stolen, Pro-Tect's plan is likely to reduce its annual payouts.

In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?