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A Theory of Affirmative Action in College Admissions

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  • Qiang Fu
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Abstract

To address the issue of when minority and nonminority candidates compete for admissions to a college, we show that an academic quality--oriented college maximizes the test score of its incoming class by adopting an admissions rule that favors the minority. Such a "handicapping" rule increases competition and induces candidates to invest more in educational attainment. These results reconcile the often-assumed conflicts between diversity and academic quality. However, we also show that the non-minority responds to the affirmative action admissions more aggressively, which tends to widen the racial test score gap. (JEL H0, J7) Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ei/cbj020
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Western Economic Association International in its journal Economic Inquiry.

Volume (Year): 44 (2006)
Issue (Month): 3 (July)
Pages: 420-428

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Handle: RePEc:oup:ecinqu:v:44:y:2006:i:3:p:420-428

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Cited by:
  1. J. Atsu Amegashie, 2009. "American Idol: should it be a singing contest or a popularity contest?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 265-277, November.
  2. Jörg Franke, 2007. "Does Affirmative Action Reduce Effort Incentives? A Contest Game Analysis," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 711.07, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
  3. Li, Dong & Weisman, Dennis L., 2011. "Why preferences in college admissions may yield a more-able student body," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 724-728, August.
  4. Konrad, Kai A., 2007. "Strategy in contests: an introduction," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Processes and Governance SP II 2007-01, Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB).
  5. Tuvana Pastine & Ivan Pastine, 2011. "Preferential Treatment in College Admissions and Student Incentives," Economics, Finance and Accounting Department Working Paper Series n218-11.pdf, Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
  6. Ivan Pastine & Tuvana Pastine, 2006. "Politician Preferences and Caps on Political Lobbying," Working Papers 200619, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  7. Laurence Kranich, 2012. "A Simple Theoretical Argument for Affrmative Action," Discussion Papers 12-05, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics.
  8. Ivan Pastine & Tuvana Pastine, 2012. "All-Pay Contests with Constraints," Working Papers 201204, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  9. Oskar Nupia, 2011. "Rent-seeking For Public Goods: Group’s Size and Wealth Heterogeneity," DOCUMENTOS CEDE 008914, UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES-CEDE.

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