Correlation Neglect in Student-to-School Matching
62 Pages Posted: 11 Feb 2020 Last revised: 20 Jul 2023
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Correlation Neglect in Student-to-School Matching
Date Written: February 2020
Abstract
We present results from experiments containing incentivized school-choice scenarios. In these scenarios, we vary whether schools’ assessments of students are based on a common priority (inducing correlation in admissions decisions) or are based on independent assessments (eliminating correlation in admissions decisions). The quality of students’ application strategies declines in the presence of correlated admissions: application strategies become substantially more aggressive and fail to include attractive “safety” options. We provide a battery of tests suggesting that this phenomenon is at least partially driven by correlation neglect, and we discuss implications for the design and deployment of student-to-school matching mechanisms.
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