Alumni Job Networks at Elite Universities and the Efficacy of Affirmative Action

Cecilia Machado, Germán Reyes and Evan Riehl ()
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Evan Riehl: Cornell University

No 15026, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We examine the efficacy of affirmative action at universities whose value depends on peer and alumni networks. We study an elite Brazilian university that adopted race- and income-based affirmative action at a large scale. Using employer-employee data, we show that a key benefit of attending the university is access to high-paying jobs affiliated with its alumni. Affirmative action increased disadvantaged students' access to these firms and raised their early-career earnings. But these benefits faded over time. Further, the increase in student body diversity lowered the job prospects and earnings of the school's most highly ranked students.

Keywords: affirmative action; alumni network; higher education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I26 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 72 pages
Date: 2022-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma, nep-net and nep-ure
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Forthcoming - forthcoming in: Journal of Labor Economics

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