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College assignment as a large contest

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  • Bodoh-Creed, Aaron L.
  • Hickman, Brent R.

Abstract

We develop a model of college assignment as a large contest wherein students with heterogeneous learning-costs compete for seats at vertically differentiated colleges through the acquisition of productive human capital. We use a continuum model to approximate the outcomes of a game with large, but finite, sets of colleges and students. The continuum approximation lends tractability to a rich model for studying investment incentives in rank-order competitions. By incorporating two common families of affirmative action mechanisms into our model, admissions preferences and quotas, we can show that (legal) admissions preference schemes and (illegal) quotas have the same sets of equilibria including identical outcomes and investment strategies.

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  • Bodoh-Creed, Aaron L. & Hickman, Brent R., 2018. "College assignment as a large contest," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 88-126.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:175:y:2018:i:c:p:88-126
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2018.01.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Ratul Lahkar & Rezina Sultana, 2020. "Affirmative Action in Large Population Contests," Working Papers 40, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    2. Ratul Lahkar & Saptarshi Mukherjee, 2022. "Optimal Large Population Tullock Contests," Working Papers 82, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    3. Mohammad Akbarpour & Piotr Dworczak & Scott Duke Kominers, 2024. "Redistributive Allocation Mechanisms," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(6), pages 1831-1875.
    4. Shanglyu Deng & Hanming Fang & Qiang Fu & Zenan Wu, 2023. "Information Favoritism and Scoring Bias in Contests," PIER Working Paper Archive 23-002, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    5. Hayri A. Arslan, 2021. "Preference estimation in centralized college admissions from reported lists," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 2865-2911, November.
    6. Barbieri, Stefano & Serena, Marco, 2021. "Winner’s effort maximization in large contests," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    7. Fu, Chao & Guo, Junjie & Smith, Adam J. & Sorensen, Alan, 2022. "Students’ heterogeneous preferences and the uneven spatial distribution of colleges," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 49-64.
    8. Xiao, Jun, 2023. "Ability grouping in contests," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    9. Subhasish M. Chowdhury & Patricia Esteve‐González & Anwesha Mukherjee, 2023. "Heterogeneity, leveling the playing field, and affirmative action in contests," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(3), pages 924-974, January.
    10. Christopher Cotton & Brent R. Hickman & Joseph P. Price, 2020. "Affirmative Action, Shifting Competition, and Human Capital Accumulation: A Comparative Static Analysis of Investment Contests," Working Paper 1433, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    11. Prokopovych, Pavlo & Yannelis, Nicholas C., 2023. "On monotone pure-strategy Bayesian-Nash equilibria of a generalized contest," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 348-362.
    12. Yangguang Huang & Ming He, 2021. "Structural Analysis Of Tullock Contests With An Application To U.S. House Of Representatives Elections," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1011-1054, August.
    13. Tincani, Michela M. & Kosse, Fabian & Miglino, Enrico, 2022. "The Effect of Preferential Admissions on the College Participation of Disadvantaged Students: The Role of Pre-College Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 15633, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Penghuan Yan, 2024. "Balancing Selection Efficiency and Societal Costs in Selective Contests," Papers 2409.09768, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2024.
    15. Edith Elkind & Abheek Ghosh & Paul Goldberg, 2022. "Contests to Incentivize a Target Group," Papers 2204.14051, arXiv.org.
    16. 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.
    17. Raphael Boleslavsky & Bruce Carlin & Christopher Cotton, 2021. "A Model of Challenge Funds: How Funding Availability and Selection Rigor Affect Project Quality," Working Paper 1470, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    18. Eun Jeong Heo, 2023. "Financial aid in college admissions: need-based versus merit-based," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 60(1), pages 265-297, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Affirmative action; Contests; Approximate equilibrium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • L53 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Enterprise Policy

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