[UTMD-043] Design on Matroids: Diversity vs. Meritocracy (by Isa E. Hafalir, Fuhito Kojima, M. Bumin Yenmez, Koji Yokote)

Author

Isa E. Hafalir, Fuhito Kojima, M. Bumin Yenmez, Koji Yokote

Abstract

We provide optimal solutions to an institution that has dual goals of diversity and meritocracy when choosing from a set of applications. For example, in college admissions, administrators may want to admit a diverse class in addition to choosing students with the highest qualifications. We provide a class of choice rules that maximizemerit subject to attaining a diversity level. Using this class, we find all subsets of applications on the diversity-merit Pareto frontier. In addition, we provide two novel characterizations of matroids.

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