TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fryer,Roland
AU  - Loury,Glenn C.
AU  - Yuret,Tolga
TI  - Color-Blind Affirmative Action
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10103
PY  - 2003
Y2  - November 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10103
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10103.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Roland G. Fryer, Jr
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Littauer Center 208
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/495-9592
Fax: 617/495-8570
E-Mail: rfryer@fas.harvard.edu

Glenn Loury
Department of Economics
Brown University
64 Waterman Street
Providence RI 02912
E-Mail: Glenn_Loury@brown.edu

Tolga Yuret
Boston University
E-Mail: yuret@bu.edu
AB  - This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the consequences of the widespread adoption of  race-neutral alternatives' to conventional racial affirmative action policies in college admissions. A simple model of applicant competition with endogenous effort is utilized to show that, in comparison to color-conscious affirmative action, these color-blind alternatives can significantly lower the efficiency of the student selection process in equilibrium. We examine data on matriculates at several selective colleges and universities to estimate the magnitudes involved. It is shown that the short-run efficiency losses of implementing color-blind affirmative action (in our sample) are four to five times as high as color-conscious affirmative action.
ER  -