Affirmative Action and Precollege Human Capital

Mitra Akhtari, Natalie Bau and Jean-William Laliberté

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2024, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-32

Abstract: Though racial affirmative action (AA) policies are widespread in college admissions, evidence on their effects before college is limited. We study a US Supreme Court ruling that reinstated AA in three states. Using nationwide SAT data, we separately identify positive effects of AA for Whites and underrepresented minorities. Using Texas administrative data, we find that AA narrowed racial gaps in grades, attendance, and college applications. Improvements in minorities precollege human capital and college applications are concentrated in the top half of the test score distribution among the students for whom the policy most increases the returns to human capital investment.

JEL-codes: H75 I21 I23 I28 J15 J24 K10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Affirmative Action and Pre-College Human Capital (2020)
Working Paper: Affirmative Action and Pre-College Human Capital (2019)
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DOI: 10.1257/app.20210807

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