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Perceived Fairness and Consequences of Affirmative Action Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch
  • Marco A Schwarz
  • Chi Trieu
  • Jana Willrodt

Abstract

Debates about affirmative action often revolve around fairness. In a laboratory experiment, we study three quota rules in tournaments that favour individuals whose performance is low, either due to discrimination, low productivity, or choice of a short working time. Affirmative action favouring discriminated individuals is perceived as fairest, followed by that targeting individuals with a short working time, while favouring low-productivity individuals is not perceived as fairer than an absence of affirmative action. Higher fairness perceptions coincide with a higher willingness to compete and less retaliation against winners, underlining that fairness perceptions matter for the consequences of affirmative action.

Suggested Citation

  • Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Marco A Schwarz & Chi Trieu & Jana Willrodt, 2023. "Perceived Fairness and Consequences of Affirmative Action Policies," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(656), pages 3099-3135.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:133:y:2023:i:656:p:3099-3135.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/uead063
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    Cited by:

    1. Chi Trieu, 2023. "Who’s who: how uncertainty about the favored group affects outcomes of affirmative action," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 9(2), pages 252-292, December.
    2. Belmonte, Alessandro & Ticchi, Davide & Ubaldi, Michele, 2025. "Re-exhuming the old hatchet: The effects of affirmative action policies on political preferences in post-apartheid South Africa," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1626, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Getik, Demid & Islam, Marco & Samahita, Margaret, 2024. "The inelastic demand for affirmative action," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    4. Alessandro Belmonte & Davide Ticchi & Michele Ubaldi, 2025. "Affirmative Actions, Economic Insecurity, and Ethnic Conflicts: Evidence from South Africa Post-Apartheid," Working Papers 496, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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