Does affirmative action address ethnic inequality?: A systematic review of the literature

Simone Schotte, Rachel M. Gisselquist and Tharcisio Leone

No wp-2023-14, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: Despite the good intentions behind affirmative action policies to mediate 'horizontal inequalities' between ethnic groups, the evidence on their effectiveness remains open to debate. In this study, we conduct a systematic review of the literature with global scope, to add new clarity on whether positive or negative effects prevail according to the available quantitative evidence and the strength and generalizability of this evidence. Overall, close to two-thirds of the 194 reviewed studies find a dominantly positive effect.

Keywords: Affirmative action; Systematic review; Horizontal inequality; Ethnic group; Ethnic inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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