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Affirmative Action In College Admissions: Examining Labor Market Effects Of Four Alternative Policies

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  • Bruce Wydick

Abstract

A rancorous debate continues to rage over the use of affirmative action policies in college admissions. This article uses a simple signaling model to evaluate the labor market impacts of four types of affirmative action admissions policies. RacE‐based preferential policies and policies guaranteeing admission based on high school academic rank may induce discrimination in labor markets when there exists strong heterogeneity in socioeconomic disadvantage within the underrepresented minority group. Under such conditions, it may also be difficult to realize ethnic diversity with disadvantagE‐based preferential policies. The article argues instead for affirmative action policies emphasizing intensive college preparation for targeted groups.

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  • Bruce Wydick, 2002. "Affirmative Action In College Admissions: Examining Labor Market Effects Of Four Alternative Policies," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 20(1), pages 12-24, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:20:y:2002:i:1:p:12-24
    DOI: 10.1093/cep/20.1.12
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    Cited by:

    1. Francis-Tan, Andrew & Tannuri-Pianto, Maria, 2018. "Black Movement: Using discontinuities in admissions to study the effects of college quality and affirmative action," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 97-116.
    2. Henrique Z. Motte & Rodrigo Oliveira, 2020. "The effect of class assignment on academic performance and the labour market: Evidence from a public federal university in Brazil," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-8, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Zietz, Joachim & Joshi, Prathibha, 2005. "Academic choice behavior of high school students: economic rationale and empirical evidence," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 297-308, June.
    4. Motte Henrique & Oliveira Rodrigo, 2020. "The effect of class assignment on academic performance and the labour market: Evidence from a public federal university in Brazil," WIDER Working Paper Series wp2020-8, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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