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College Admissions as Non-Price Competition: The Case of South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Avery
  • Soohyung Lee
  • Alvin E. Roth

Abstract

This paper examines non-price competition among colleges to attract highly qualified students, exploiting the South Korean setting where the national government sets rules governing applications. We identify some basic facts about the behavior of colleges before and after a 1994 policy change that changed the timing of the national college entrance exam and introduced early admissions, and propose a game-theoretic model that matches those facts. When applications reveal information about students that is of common interest to all colleges, lower-ranked colleges can gain in competition with higher-ranked colleges by limiting the number of possible applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Avery & Soohyung Lee & Alvin E. Roth, 2014. "College Admissions as Non-Price Competition: The Case of South Korea," NBER Working Papers 20774, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20774
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hector Chade & Gregory Lewis & Lones Smith, 2014. "Student Portfolios and the College Admissions Problem," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(3), pages 971-1002.
    2. Alvin E. Roth, 2009. "What Have We Learned from Market Design?," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(1), pages 79-112.
    3. Sanghoon Lee, 2007. "The Timing Of Signaling: To Study In High School Or In College?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 48(3), pages 785-807, August.
    4. Paul R. Milgrom, 1981. "Good News and Bad News: Representation Theorems and Applications," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 380-391, Autumn.
    5. Hafalir, Isa E. & Hakimov, Rustamdjan & Kübler, Dorothea & Kurino, Morimitsu, 2018. "College admissions with entrance exams: Centralized versus decentralized," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 176, pages 886-934.
    6. Roth, Alvin E & Xing, Xiaolin, 1994. "Jumping the Gun: Imperfections and Institutions Related to the Timing of Market Transactions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 992-1044, September.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Somouaoga Bonkoungou, 2021. "Decentralized college admissions under single application," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 25(1), pages 65-91, June.
    2. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2016-003 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. TANAKA Mari & NARITA Yusuke & MORIGUCHI Chiaki, 2020. "Meritocracy and Its Discontent: Long-run Effects of Repeated School Admission Reforms," Discussion papers 20002, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. Hafalir, Isa E. & Hakimov, Rustamdjan & Kübler, Dorothea & Kurino, Morimitsu, 2018. "College admissions with entrance exams: Centralized versus decentralized," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 886-934.
    5. Chen, Wei-Cheng & Chen, Yi-Yi & Kao, Yi-Cheng, 2018. "Limited choice in college admissions: An experimental study," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 295-316.
    6. 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.
    7. Zhong, Xiaohan & Zhu, Lin, 2021. "The medium-run efficiency consequences of unfair school matching: Evidence from Chinese college admissions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 224(2), pages 271-285.
    8. Francesconi, Marco & Slonimczyk, Fabián & Yurko, Anna, 2019. "Democratizing access to higher education in Russia: The consequences of the unified state exam reform," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 56-82.
    9. Kenjiro Hirata & Shinpei Sano & Katsuya Takii, 2021. "How can a college's admissions policies help produce future business leaders?," OSIPP Discussion Paper 21E003, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    10. Yenmez, M. Bumin, 2018. "A college admissions clearinghouse," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 859-885.
    11. Stylianos Despotakis & Isa Hafalir & R. Ravi & Amin Sayedi, 2017. "Expertise in Online Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3895-3910, November.
    12. Yeon-Koo Che & Youngwoo Koh, 2016. "Decentralized College Admissions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(5), pages 1295-1338.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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