We study university admissions under a centralized system that uses grades and standardized test scores to match applicants programs. In the context of this system, we explore affirmative action policies seek narrow gap between admission rates different socio-demographic groups while still accepting students with high scores. Since there is uncertainty about score distribution who will apply ea...

This article provides a framework for comparing meritocratic and affirmative action admissions policies. The context of the analysis is admissions to public universities; admission rules are evaluated as part of the public investment problem faced by a state government. Meritocratic and affirmative admissions policies are compared in terms of their effects on the level and distribution of human...

Once I was a member of a university council that, among other things, played "watchdog" when decisions were being made regarding whom to appoint to high places in the univeristy administration. One of my colleague's favorite points was that if a candidate hedged with a "yes and no" or a "yes, but..." to the query, "Would you support affirmative action?", such a response should be taken as prima...

Executive Summary. The latest edition in the AmericasBarometer Insights series examines public support for racial quotas in Brazilian universities. A high percentage of Brazilians believes that reserving slots for Afro-descendants is fair. However, an important minority strongly opposes affirmative action. It turns out that the university educated and whites are most likely to oppose affirmativ...