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Diversity and Affirmative Action in Higher Education

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  • DENNIS EPPLE
  • RICHARD ROMANO
  • HOLGER SIEG

Abstract

We examine the practice of affirmative action and consequences of its proscription on the admission and tuition policies of institutions of higher education in a general equilibrium framework. Colleges are differentiated ex ante by endowments and compete for students that differ by race, household income, and academic qualification. Proscription of affirmative action requires that admission and tuition policies are race blind. Colleges then use the informational content about race in income and academic qualification in reformulating their optimal policies. We find that minority students pay lower tuition and attend higher‐quality schools because of affirmative action. A ban of affirmative action will lead to a substantial decline of minority students in the top‐tier colleges.

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  • Dennis Epple & Richard Romano & Holger Sieg, 2008. "Diversity and Affirmative Action in Higher Education," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 10(4), pages 475-501, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:10:y:2008:i:4:p:475-501
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9779.2008.00373.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Priscila S. dos Santos & Kalinca L. Becker & Sibele V. de Oliveira, 2023. "Race‐based affirmative action for higher education in Brazil: Impact assessment on performance, time, and delay in completion," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 247-267, February.
    2. Chitra Jogani, 2022. "Effect of Political Quotas on Attributes of Political Candidates and Provision of Public Goods," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 267-316, April.
    3. Liu, Liqun & Neilson, William S., 2011. "High scores but low skills," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 507-516, June.
    4. Luiz Brotherhood & Bernard Herskovic & Joao Ramos, 2022. "Income-based affirmative action in college admissions," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2022/425, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Simone Schotte & Tharcisio Leone & Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2023. "The impact of affirmative action in India and the United States: A systematic literature review," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Dario Cestau & Dennis Epple & Holger Sieg, 2017. "Admitting Students to Selective Education Programs: Merit, Profiling, and Affirmative Action," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(3), pages 761-797.
    7. Yagan, Danny, 2016. "Supply vs. demand under an affirmative action ban: Estimates from UC law schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 38-50.
    8. Arcidiacono, Peter & Khan, Shakeeb & Vigdor, Jacob L., 2011. "Representation versus assimilation: How do preferences in college admissions affect social interactions?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1-2), pages 1-15, February.
    9. Surendrakumar Bagde & Dennis Epple & Lowell Taylor, 2016. "Does Affirmative Action Work? Caste, Gender, College Quality, and Academic Success in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(6), pages 1495-1521, June.
    10. Lau, Yan, 2022. "Does racial diversity improve academic outcomes? A natural experiment in higher education classrooms," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Glenn Ellison & Parag A. Pathak, 2021. "The Efficiency of Race-Neutral Alternatives to Race-Based Affirmative Action: Evidence from Chicago's Exam Schools," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 943-975, March.
    12. Epple, Dennis & Romano, Richard & Sarpça, Sinan & Sieg, Holger, 2017. "A general equilibrium analysis of state and private colleges and access to higher education in the U.S," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 164-178.
    13. Dennis Epple & Richard Romano & Sinan Sarpça & Holger Sieg, 2013. "The U.S. Market for Higher Education: A General Equilibrium Analysis of State and Private Colleges and Public Funding Policies," NBER Working Papers 19298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Peter Arcidiacono & Esteban Aucejo & Patrick Coate & V. Joseph Hotz, 2012. "Affirmative Action and University Fit: Evidence from Proposition 209," NBER Working Papers 18523, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Debraj Ray & Rajiv Sethi, 2010. "A Remark on Color‐Blind Affirmative Action," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 12(3), pages 399-406, June.
    16. de Silva, Tiloka & Gothama, Supun & Premakumara, Priyantha, 2021. "Admissions quotas in university education: Targeting and mismatch under Sri Lanka’s affirmative action policy," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Fridman, A. & Verbetskaia, M., 2020. "Government regulation of the market for higher education," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 12-43.
    18. Eyster, Erik & Chan, Jimmy, 2007. "The Distributional Consequences of Diversity-Enhancing University Admissions Rules," CEPR Discussion Papers 6278, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Dennis L. Weisman & Dong Li, 2017. "Weeds in the Ivy: college admissions under preference constraints," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 303-312, January.
    20. Vieira, Renato Schwambach & Arends-Kuenning, Mary, 2019. "Affirmative action in Brazilian universities: Effects on the enrollment of targeted groups," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    21. Pastine, Ivan & Pastine, Tuvana, 2012. "Student incentives and preferential treatment in college admissions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 123-130.
    22. Peter Arcidiacono & Michael Lovenheim, 2016. "Affirmative Action and the Quality-Fit Trade-Off," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 3-51, March.
    23. Subedi, Mukti Nath & Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa & Ulker, Aydogan, 2022. "Effects of Affirmative Action on Educational and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Nepal's Reservation Policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 443-463.
    24. Joao Ramos & Bernard Herskovic, 2017. "Promoting Educational Opportunities: Long-run Implications of Affirmative Action in College Admissions," 2017 Meeting Papers 1552, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    25. Michael Kaganovich & Sinan Sarpca & Xuejuan Su, 2020. "Competition in Higher Education: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 8220, CESifo.

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