American Economic Journal:
Microeconomics
ISSN 1945-7669 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7685 (Online)
College Admission with Multidimensional Privileges: The Brazilian Affirmative Action Case
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
vol. 13,
no. 3, August 2021
(pp. 1–28)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
In 2012, Brazilian public universities were mandated to use affirmative action policies for candidates from racial and income minorities. We show that the policy makes the students' affirmative action status a strategic choice and may reject high-achieving minority students while admitting low-achieving majority students. Empirical data shows evidence consistent with this type of unfairness in more than 49 percent of the programs. We propose a selection criterion and an incentive-compatible mechanism that, for a wider range of similar problems and the one in Brazil in particular, is fair and removes any gain from strategizing over the privileges claimed.Citation
Aygün, Orhan, and Inácio Bó. 2021. "College Admission with Multidimensional Privileges: The Brazilian Affirmative Action Case." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 13 (3): 1–28. DOI: 10.1257/mic.20170364Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
- H52 National Government Expenditures and Education
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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