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Wastefulness in sequential school choice with public and private schools

Author

Listed:
  • Andersson, Tommy
  • Dur, Umut
  • Ertemel, Sinan
  • Kesten, Onur

Abstract

Using data from the Swedish municipality of Botkyrka, this paper quantifies the trade-off between non-wastefulness and truthfulness in sequential admission systems for public and private schools. The results show that minimizing seat waste while preserving truthfulness is possible by restricting first-round applications to either private or public schools, depending on which type of school that is expected to have fewer applicants. These findings offer practical insights for improving the efficiency of real-world sequential school admission systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersson, Tommy & Dur, Umut & Ertemel, Sinan & Kesten, Onur, 2025. "Wastefulness in sequential school choice with public and private schools," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:247:y:2025:i:c:s0165176524006256
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112141
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Atila Abdulkadiroglu & Tayfun Sönmez, 2003. "School Choice: A Mechanism Design Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(3), pages 729-747, June.
    2. Ekmekci, Mehmet & Yenmez, M. Bumin, 2019. "Common enrollment in school choice," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 14(4), November.
    3. 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.
    4. Manjunath, Vikram & Turhan, Bertan, 2016. "Two school systems, one district: What to do when a unified admissions process is impossible," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 25-40.
    5. Turhan, Bertan, 2019. "Welfare and incentives in partitioned school choice markets," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 199-208.
    6. Tommy Andersson & Umut Dur & Sinan Ertemel & Onur Kesten, 2024. "Sequential school choice with public and private schools," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 63(2), pages 231-276, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market design; Sequential school choice; Truthful SPNE; Non-wastefulness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • D47 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Market Design
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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