Preference submission timing and college admission outcomes: evidence from Turkey

Hayri Alper Arslan (), Yang Song () and Tong Wang ()
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Hayri Alper Arslan: University of Texas at San Antonio
Yang Song: Colgate University
Tong Wang: The University of Tokyo

Review of Economic Design, 2024, vol. 28, issue 1, No 8, 189-241

Abstract: Abstract This paper studies the effects of reducing information uncertainty on matching outcomes in a college choice setting. Turkey reformed its college admissions in 1999, changing the preference submission process for 4-year programs from pre-exam to post-exam submission, both under the constrained Deferred Acceptance mechanism. A conceptual framework illustrates that the reform changed matching outcomes in two ways: (i) fewer programs with unfilled seats, (ii) more assortative matching between students and programs, i.e., higher cutoff ranks for more highly ranked programs. Results from a difference-in-differences strategy confirm such predictions and find that the reform led to less under-capacity among lower-ranked programs and stronger assortative matching between high-achieving students and highly ranked programs. Moreover, we find some suggestive evidence that the post-exam submission may have led to fewer enrolled students overall but more female students in 4-year programs.

Keywords: College admission; Matching stability; Post-exam submission; Deferred acceptance mechanism; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 D82 I23 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10058-023-00339-5

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