Crowding in School Choice

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2024
Volume: 114
Issue: 8
Pages: 2526-52

Authors (3)

William Phan (not in RePEc) Ryan Tierney (Syddansk Universitet) Yu Zhou (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We consider the market design problem of matching students to schools in the presence of crowding effects. These effects are salient in parents' decision-making and the empirical literature; however, they cause difficulties in the design of satisfactory mechanisms and, as such, are not currently considered. We propose a new framework and an equilibrium notion that accommodates crowding, no-envy, and respect for priorities. The equilibrium has a student-optimal element that induces an incentive-compatible mechanism and is implementable via a novel algorithm. Moreover, analogs of fundamental structural results of the matching literature (the rural hospitals theorem, welfare lattice, etc.) survive.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:114:y:2024:i:8:p:2526-52
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29