Affirmative Action, Shifting Competition, and Human Capital Accumulation: A Comparative Static Analysis of Investment Contests

Christopher Cotton, Brent R. Hickman () and Joseph P. Price
Additional contact information
Brent R. Hickman: Olin Business School, University of Washington
Joseph P. Price: Brigham Young University

No 1433, Working Paper from Economics Department, Queen's University

Abstract: We develop a model in which many heterogeneous agents invest in human capital as they compete for better college admission slots or employment opportunities. The model provides theoretical predictions about how affirmative action or preferential treatment policies change the distribution of effort, human capital accumulation, and job/college slot allocations across different population groups. Our findings deliver two key insights. First, incentives to invest in human capital depends substantially on the strength of one's competition. Second, we find evidence of a counter-intuitive role for preferential treatment in promoting overall human capital development.

Keywords: large contest; all-pay contest; all-pay auction; affirmative action; college admissions; field experiment; human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D44 D82 J15 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2020-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-exp, nep-gth, nep-hrm and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:qed:wpaper:1433

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