Racial and income‐based affirmative action in higher education admissions: Lessons from the Brazilian experience

C-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Surveys
Year: 2024
Volume: 38
Issue: 3
Pages: 956-972

Authors (4)

Rodrigo Zeidan (New York University Shanghai) Silvio Luiz de Almeida (not in RePEc) Inácio Bó (University of Macau) Neil Lewis (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.251 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

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

Abstract

This survey article provides insights regarding the future of affirmative action by analyzing the implementation methods and the empirical evidence on the use of placement quotas in the Brazilian higher education system. All federal universities have required income and racial‐based quotas in Brazil since 2012. Affirmative action in federal universities is uniformly applied across the country, which makes evaluating its effects particularly valuable. Affirmative action improves the outcomes of targeted students. Specifically, race‐based quotas raise the share of Black students in federal universities, an effect not observed with income‐based quotas alone. Affirmative action has downstream positive consequences for labor market outcomes. The results suggest that income and race‐based quotas beneficiaries experience substantial long‐term welfare benefits. There is no evidence of mismatching or negative consequences for targeted students' peers.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jecsur:v:38:y:2024:i:3:p:956-972
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-24