Improving the Chilean College Admissions System

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rios, Ignacio; Larroucau, Tomas; Parra, Giorgiogiulio; Cominetti, Roberto
• 署名单位: University of Texas System; University of Texas Dallas; University of Pennsylvania; Universidad de Chile; Universidad Adolfo Ibanez
• 刊物名称: OPERATIONS RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0030-364X
• DOI: 10.1287/opre.2021.2116
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 1186-1205
• 关键词: college admissions; stable assignment; flexible quotas; nonstrict preferences

摘要

In this paper we present the design and implementation of a new system to solve the Chilean college admissions problem. We develop an algorithm that obtains all applicant/program pairs that can be part of a stable allocation when preferences are not strict and when all students tied in the last seat of a program (if any) must be allocated. We use this algorithm to identify which mechanism was used in the past to perform the allocation, and we propose a new method to incorporate the affirmative action that is part of the system to correct the inefficiencies that arise from having double-assigned students. By unifying the regular admission with the affirmative action, we have improved the allocation of approximately 2.5% of students assigned every year since 2016. From a theoretical standpoint, we show that some desired properties, such as strategy-proofness and monotonicity, cannot be guaranteed under flexible quotas.