Alumni Job Networks at Elite Universities and the Efficacy of Affirmative Action - Discussion Paper 15026

Sep 8, 2026

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Examines the efficacy of affirmative action at universities where peer and alumni networks shape outcomes. Using employer-employee data from an elite Brazilian university that adopted large-scale race- and income-based affirmative action, the study shows that attending the university provides access to high-paying jobs tied to alumni. Affirmative action improves disadvantaged students’ access to these firms and raises early-career earnings, but effects fade over time. Increased student diversity also worsens job prospects and earnings for the most highly ranked students.

LanguageEnglish

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Pages72

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Abstract

Research question and setting

Data and empirical strategy

Main findings

DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES IZA DP No. 15026 Alumni Job Networks at Elite Universities and the Ef cacy of Af rmative Action Cecilia Machado Germán Reyes Evan Riehl JANUARY 2022 DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES IZA DP No. 15026 Alumni Job Networks at Elite Universities and the Ef cacy of Af rmative Action Cecilia Machado Getúlio Vargas Foundation and IZA Germán Reyes Cornell University Evan Riehl Cornell University JANUARY 2022 Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world’s largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. ISSN: 2365-9793 IZA – Institute of Labor Economics | Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 5–9 53113 Bonn, Germany | Phone: +49-228-3894-0
Email: [publications@iza.org](publications@iza.org) [www.iza.org](www.iza.org) | | --- | --- | IZA DP No. 15026 JANUARY 2022 ABSTRACT Alumni Job Networks at Elite Universities and the Ef cacy of Af rmative Action* We examine the efficacy of affirmative action at universities whose value depends on peer and alumni networks. We study an elite Brazilian university that adopted race- and income-based affirmative action at a large scale. Using employer-employee data, we show that a key benefit of attending the university is access to high-paying jobs affiliated with its alumni. Affirmative action increased disadvantaged students’ access to these firms and raised their early-career earnings. But these benefits faded over time. Further, the increase in student body diversity lowered the job prospects and earnings of the school’s most highly ranked students. JEL Classification: I23, I26, J31 Keywords: affirmative action, alumni network, higher education Corresponding author: Evan Riehl Department of Economics and ILR School Cornell University 266 Ives Hall Ithaca, NY 14853 USA E-mail: [eriehl@cornell.edu](eriehl@cornell.edu) * For helpful comments we thank Sandra Black, Fernanda Estevan, Chao Fu, Adam Kapor, Michael Lovenheim, Ana Ribeiro, Seth Sanders, Fabio Schanaider, and Miguel Urquiola. We are grateful to UERJ for assistance with the data. All errors are our own. This paper examines the eﬃcacy of aﬃrmative action at elite universities. There is growing pressure on top universities to promote intergenerational mobility by increasing the racial and socioeconomic diversity of their student bodies. Recent work has found that aﬃrmative action in large state university systems can raise the earnings of underrepresented minority students (Bleemer, 2020) . But there is limited evidence on the earnings eﬀects of aﬃrmative action at the most selective universities, and at the scale that would be necessary to equalize the representation of minority and low-income students (Chetty et al., 2020) . The mechanisms through which aﬃrmative action can aﬀect earnings inequality are likely to be diﬀerent at elite universities relative to moderately selective schools. The debate on aﬃrmative action often centers on the question of how it aﬀects the likelihood that students earn a college degree (Arcidiacono et al., 2016; Bagde et al., 2016) . This debate is less relevant at elite un

FAQs

What is the main focus of this paper?

The paper studies how affirmative action works at elite universities where outcomes depend on peer and alumni job networks.

How does affirmative action affect disadvantaged students in the studied setting?

Affirmative action increases disadvantaged students’ access to alumni-affiliated, high-paying firms and raises their early-career earnings.

Do the benefits of affirmative action last over time?

The benefits for disadvantaged students fade as careers progress.

Sep 8, 2026

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