Recursion offers clarity and elegance by allowing problems to be defined and solved in a self-referential manner, making the code more intuitive and concise. However, it can be less efficient due to the overhead of multiple function calls and risks stack overflow errors in deep recursion scenarios.

Benefits:

• Clarity: Recursive solutions can be more intuitive and easier to understand for problems that naturally fit a recursive structure.
  • For example, problems like traversing a tree, solving the Towers of Hanoi, or generating permutations can be more straightforwardly implemented using recursion.
• Elegance: Recursive code can be more concise and closely match the problem's definition.
  • Recursion allows a problem to be defined in a self-referential way, which can lead to cleaner and more readable code. For instance, the mathematical definition of the Fibonacci sequence translates directly into a simple recursive function.

Drawbacks:

• Performance: Recursive functions can be less efficient due to the overhead of multiple function calls.
  • Each recursive call adds a layer to the call stack, which consumes memory and processing time. In cases of deep recursion, this can lead to performance bottlenecks. 

• Stack Overflow: Deep recursion can lead to stack overflow errors if the base case is not reached within a reasonable number of calls.
  • If the recursion is too deep or the base case is not defined properly, the program may exhaust the call stack's memory, leading to a stack overflow error. This is a common issue in naive implementations of recursive algorithms.

To summarize, recursion is a powerful technique for solving problems that can be broken down into smaller, similar sub-problems. While it offers clarity and elegance, it must be used judiciously to avoid performance issues and stack overflow errors. Understanding the base case and the recursive case is crucial for writing effective recursive functions.