Redistribution without distortion: Evidence from an affirmative action program at a large Brazilian university

Fernanda Estevan and Louis-Philippe Morin Thomas Gall
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Louis-Philippe Morin and Thomas Gall

No 2016_07, Working Papers, Department of Economics from University of São Paulo (FEA-USP)

Abstract: In this paper, we examine an innovative affirmative action policy designed to increase the representation of underprivileged students at UNICAMP, a large and highly ranked Brazilian university. The university awarded bonus points to targeted applicants (i.e., public high school applicants) on their admission exam, as opposed to imposing a typical quota system. Using a rich set of administrative data from UNICAMP, we assess the effect of this policy on the composition of admitted students, and investigate for possible behavioral responses at the extensive (participation) and intensive (preparation effort) margins. We find that the admission probability of public high school applicants, the targeted applicants, significantly increased following the adoption of the affirmative action program. The policy was also associated with sizable redistribution in the composition of admitted students, with a shift towards students from families with lower socio-economic status. Surprisingly, we find little evidence of behavioral reactions to the affirmative action policy, in terms of test performance or application decision.

Keywords: post-secondary education; affirmative action; university admission; inequality. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 I28 J15 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-03-22, Revised 2016-04-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.repec.eae.fea.usp.br/documentos/Estevan_Gall_Morin_07WPa.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Redistribution Without Distortion: Evidence from an Affirmative Action Programme at a Large Brazilian University (2019)
Working Paper: Redistribution without Distortion: Evidence from an Affirmative Action Program at a Large Brazilian University (2016)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spa:wpaper:2016wpecon7

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers, Department of Economics from University of São Paulo (FEA-USP) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Pedro Garcia Duarte ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).