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Who Is Eligible? Should Affirmative Action be Group‐ or Class‐Based?

Author

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  • William Darity, Jr.
  • Ashwini Deshpande
  • Thomas Weisskopf

Abstract

We explore the consequences for eligibility of members of subaltern groups for affirmative action (AA), when AA policies are based on social class criteria rather than on group affiliation (race, ethnicity, or gender), by means of a general model with simplifying assumptions. The model is developed first for the case where everyone eligible for AA becomes a beneficiary, and then for the case where beneficiaries are only those eligibles who are able to meet minimum qualification requirements for the positions at issue—an ability that is (reasonably) assumed to be correlated with socioeconomic status. The model demonstrates that class-based affirmative action cannot provide as many subaltern‐group beneficiaries as group‐based affirmative action, especially when access to the desired positions hinges on performance qualifications. Data on AA‐targeted subaltern groups in rural India and in the United States are used to illustrate the conclusions of the model.

Suggested Citation

  • William Darity, Jr. & Ashwini Deshpande & Thomas Weisskopf, 2011. "Who Is Eligible? Should Affirmative Action be Group‐ or Class‐Based?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 238-268, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:70:y:2011:i:1:p:238-268
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2010.00770.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Magnus, S.A. & Mick, S.S., 2000. "Medical schools, affirmative action, and the neglected role of social class," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(8), pages 1197-1201.
    2. William Darity & Jason Dietrich & David K. Guilkey, 2001. "Persistent Advantage or Disadvantage?: Evidence in Support of the Intergenerational Drag Hypothesis," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 435-470, April.
    3. William Darity, Jr. & Ashwini Deshpande, 2000. "Tracing the Divide: Intergroup Disparity across Countries," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 75-85, Winter.
    4. Roland G. Fryer Jr. & Glenn C. Loury, 2005. "Affirmative Action and Its Mythology," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 147-162, Summer.
    5. Omar Arias & Gustavo Yamada & Luis Tejerina, 2004. "Education, Family Backgrounds and Racial Earnings Inequality in Brazil," Working Papers 04-04, Centro de Investigación, Universidad del Pacífico, revised 2004.
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    1. Sarkar, Sudipa & Chakravorty, Bhaskar & Lyonette, Clare, 2020. "Social Identity and Aspiration - Double Jeopardy or Intersectionality? Evidence from Rural India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 724, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Guha, Brishti & Roy Chowdhury, Prabal, 2022. "Affirmative action in the presence of income heterogeneity," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 510-533.
    3. Munshi, K., 2017. "Caste and the Indian Economy," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1759, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. 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.
    5. 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).
    6. Pandey, Shivendra Kumar, 2025. "Exclusive quota for economically weaker sections," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 1246-1263.
    7. William Darity, 2013. "Confronting those affirmative action grumbles," Chapters, in: Jeannette Wicks-Lim & Robert Pollin (ed.), Capitalism on Trial, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Sukanta Bhattacharya & Aparajita Dasgupta & Kumarjit Mandal & Anirban Mukherjee, 2021. "Class or caste? A study on the role of caste and wealth status in school choice decision," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 255-276, 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. Sugata Bag & Suman Seth & Barnali Basak, 2023. "Heterogeneous effect of the Indian affirmative action: The role of caste certificates," Working papers 339, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.

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