This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the consequences of the widespread adoption of “race-neutral alternatives” to conventional racial affirmative action policies in college admissions. A simple model of applicant competition with endogenous effort is utilized to show that, in comparison to color-conscious affirmative action, these color-blind alternatives can significan...

The word discrimination is used loosely to encapsulate negative ideas surrounding the practice. In the case of affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan, discrimination is used to justify an unjust practice. Generally, when affirmative action is debated, it is considered from a singular perspective (i.e., it is wrong or it is right). Most ignore that admissions polici...

Abstract There is considerable evidence that males are more prone to take risks than females. This difference has implications for rates of promotion in hierarchies where promotion is based on random signals of ability. I explore the promotion consequences of three types of performance standards: gender-blind standards, standards designed to promote agents of equal ability on average, and stand...

This study seeks to inform multinational corporations as they integrate domestic and international affirmative action policies and strategies. Improvement of these abilities can have important implications for human resource management and organizational productivity outcomes. To increase our understanding of the international perspectives of affirmative action, we examine employee perceptions ...

0022-1031/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Inc. A doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.017 * Corresponding author. Address: Department of H zational Behavior, Anderson School of Management, Angeles, 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 310 825 0218. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.M. Unzueta) Believing that affirmative action entails quotas may both help and hurt White women’s self-image – conti...