Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6278
Authors: Jimmy Chan; Erik Eyster
Abstract: This paper examines public attitudes towards university admissions rules by focusing on the imposition of the costs of racial diversity across majority citizens. High-income majority citizens, who tend to have better academic qualifications, favour more diversity under affirmative action, which imposes its costs on marginal majority candidates. Lower-income majority citizens prefer less diversity under affirmative action and would rather achieve diversity by de-emphasizing academic qualifications. Increasing income inequality among majority citizens tends to reduce the median citizen's support for affirmative action. Our results explain why affirmative action has become increasing uppopular among white voters, and why white voters who oppose affirmative action may support top-x-percent rules like those recently introduced in Texas, California and Florida.
Keywords: affirmative action; college admissions; university admissions
JEL Codes: D72; H75; I23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| income inequality (D31) | support for affirmative action (J78) |
| socioeconomic status (P36) | support for affirmative action (J78) |
| income inequality (D31) | socioeconomic status (P36) |
| socioeconomic status (P36) | diversity preferences (J15) |
| diversity preferences (J15) | support for affirmative action (J78) |