Improving Efficiency and Equality in School Choice

Arbeitspapier

How should students be assigned to schools? Two mechanisms have been suggested and implemented around the world: deferred acceptance (DA) and top trading cycles (TTC). These two mechanisms are widely considered excellent choices owing to their outstanding stability and incentive properties. We show theoretically and empirically that both mechanisms perform poorly with regard to two key desiderata such as efficiency and equality, even in large markets. In contrast, the rank-minimizing mechanism is significantly more efficient and egalitarian. It is also Pareto optimal for the students, unlike DA, and generates less justified envy than TTC

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: QMS Research Paper ; No. 2022/02

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory ; Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption ; Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory ; Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ortega, Josué ; Klein, Thilo
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Management School
• (where): Belfast
• (when): 2022

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.2139/ssrn.4089960
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/271257
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET