Research & Publications Office to host seminar on ‘Affirmative Action Policies in School Choice: Immediate versus Deferred Acceptance’ on 19 February
The talk will be delivered by Prof. Szilvia Pápai, Concordia University
4 February, 2026, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) will host a seminar on, ‘Affirmative Action Policies in School Choice: Immediate versus Deferred Acceptance’, to be led by Prof. Szilvia Pápai, Concordia University (Economics area), at 4 pm on 19th February 2026, in Classroom P-22.
Abstract: The researchers study three basic welfare axioms for school choice mechanisms with a reserve or quota-based affirmative action policy, namely, non-wastefulness, respecting the affirmative action policy and minimal responsiveness, and show that none of the previously proposed mechanisms satisfy all of them. They further demonstrate that, together with an essential fairness requirement, these three welfare axioms are compatible by constructing a new mechanism which issues immediate acceptances to minority students for minority reserve seats and otherwise uses deferred acceptance. The researchers analyze compatibilities, tradeoffs and implications concerning the three basic welfare axioms, fairness and incentive properties.
Speaker Profile: Dr. Szilvia Pápai is an Associate Professor of Economics at Concordia University and a Research Fellow at CIREQ. Her research spans matching theory, market design, game theory and social choice. She earned her PhD from Caltech and previously held a Canada Research Chair in Economic Theory. She is also a Fellow of the Hungarian Society of Economics and has held academic positions across the United States, Europe and Turkey.
Dr. Pápai’s work has appeared in leading journals, including Econometrica, the Journal of Economic Theory, and Games and Economic Behavior. In addition to her research contributions, she has provided substantial professional service through editorial roles at Games and Economic Behavior, Social Choice and Welfare, and the Journal of Mechanism and Institution Design.
Webpage Link: https://sites.google.com/site/szilviapapai/home?authuser=0
Research & Publications Office to host seminar on ‘Affirmative Action Policies in School Choice: Immediate versus Deferred Acceptance’ on 19 February
The talk will be delivered by Prof. Szilvia Pápai, Concordia University
4 February, 2026, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) will host a seminar on, ‘Affirmative Action Policies in School Choice: Immediate versus Deferred Acceptance’, to be led by Prof. Szilvia Pápai, Concordia University (Economics area), at 4 pm on 19th February 2026, in Classroom P-22.
Abstract: The researchers study three basic welfare axioms for school choice mechanisms with a reserve or quota-based affirmative action policy, namely, non-wastefulness, respecting the affirmative action policy and minimal responsiveness, and show that none of the previously proposed mechanisms satisfy all of them. They further demonstrate that, together with an essential fairness requirement, these three welfare axioms are compatible by constructing a new mechanism which issues immediate acceptances to minority students for minority reserve seats and otherwise uses deferred acceptance. The researchers analyze compatibilities, tradeoffs and implications concerning the three basic welfare axioms, fairness and incentive properties.
Speaker Profile: Dr. Szilvia Pápai is an Associate Professor of Economics at Concordia University and a Research Fellow at CIREQ. Her research spans matching theory, market design, game theory and social choice. She earned her PhD from Caltech and previously held a Canada Research Chair in Economic Theory. She is also a Fellow of the Hungarian Society of Economics and has held academic positions across the United States, Europe and Turkey.
Dr. Pápai’s work has appeared in leading journals, including Econometrica, the Journal of Economic Theory, and Games and Economic Behavior. In addition to her research contributions, she has provided substantial professional service through editorial roles at Games and Economic Behavior, Social Choice and Welfare, and the Journal of Mechanism and Institution Design.
Webpage Link: https://sites.google.com/site/szilviapapai/home?authuser=0