College Admission with Multidimensional Privileges: The Brazilian Affirmative Action Case

36 Pages Posted: 17 Nov 2017 Last revised: 29 Jul 2021

See all articles by Orhan Aygun

Orhan Aygun

Bogazici University

Inácio Bó

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) - China Center for Behavior Economics and Finance

Date Written: July 2021

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% 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, removes any gain from strategizing over the privileges claimed and is fair.

Keywords: Mechanism design, matching with contracts, college admissions, affirmative action, diversity

JEL Classification: C78, D63, D78, D82

Suggested Citation

Aygun, Orhan and Bó, Inácio, College Admission with Multidimensional Privileges: The Brazilian Affirmative Action Case (July 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3071751 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3071751

Orhan Aygun

Bogazici University ( email )

Bebek, İstanbul 34342
Turkey

Inácio Bó (Contact Author)

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) - China Center for Behavior Economics and Finance ( email )

Liutai Road 555
Wenjiang
China

HOME PAGE: http://www.inaciobo.com

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