Collaborative Research: School Choice and College Admissions: Theory and Experiments

该提案要求提供一笔为期三年的赠款，以支持密歇根大学和卡内基梅隆大学的匹配理论和实验研究计划。部分研究将在中国进行，与上海交通大学的秦向东和清华大学的施宗凯合作。该计划是由NSF资助SES-0720943和大学基金支持的工作的延伸。该研究对美国的择校改革和中国的大学招生改革具有直接的借鉴意义。(1)智力优点：该PI建议进行理论和实验研究的匹配机制适用于学校选择问题的家庭：波士顿机制，这是最常用的和突出的学校选择算法在实践中，和两个替代方案，具有上级理论属性？Gale-Shapley机制和改进的Boston机制。从实验中获得的数据将提供一个严格的评估家庭的机制，在学校选择的背景下。然后，PI提出了对大学录取机制的实验研究，并在中国使用了变体。 这些机制的理论和实验研究对于推进知识是必不可少的。不能纯粹从理论上对机制进行评价，因为人们可能不会按预期使用这些机制。它们也不能被评估为在真实的世界中使用，因为我们没有接触到人？的真实偏好。实验对于理解机制如何执行至关重要。重要的是要注意，无论假设是被证实还是被拒绝，研究结果都将指导理论和实践。(2)更广泛的影响：在过去的二十年里，学校选择一直是最重要和最广泛争论的话题之一。在目前关于学校改革的辩论中，选择已经成为国家议程的首要问题。波士顿机制是几个率先推行择校计划的城市使用的一种重要算法，但其性能尚未得到彻底评估。随着越来越多的州通过立法，规定区内或区际选择，迫切需要评估这一机制以及替代机制，以便提出有意义的政策建议。同样，中国的大学录取机制也带来了一系列新的匹配问题，每年影响着1000多万高中毕业生的教育和劳动力市场结果。这项研究提案有可能通过影响学生与学校和学院的匹配方法而造福社会。只有在本科生和研究生的参与下，才有可能成功和及时地完成拟议的实验计划。自1999年以来，Chen一直通过密歇根大学的本科生研究机会计划和NSF REU计划与本科生合作。研究所将继续包括1-2名本科生在这个研究项目每年。新的本科生将有机会参与该项目的大部分阶段，包括文献综述，协助进行实验和初步数据分析。大型数据集的分析需要研究生的辛勤工作和奉献精神。因此，PI计划每年为项目提供一名研究生研究助理。鼓励研究生参加会议和研讨会，向研究界介绍他们的研究。研究生将学习实验研究的整个过程，从实验设计，执行，数据分析到写作和演示。

This proposal requests a three-year grant to support a program of research in matching theory and experiments at the University of Michigan and Carnegie-Mellon University. Part of the proposed research will be conducted in China, in collaboration with Xiangdong Qin at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Zongkai Shi at Tsinghua University. This program is an extension of workthat has been supported by NSF grant SES-0720943 and university funds. The proposed research is likely to have direct impact on the school choice reform in the U.S. and college admissions reform in China.(1) Intellectual merit: The PIs propose to conduct theoretical and experimental studies of a family of matching mechanisms applied to the school choice problem: the Boston mechanism, which is one of the most commonly used and prominent school choice algorithms in practice, and two alternatives which have superior theoretical properties ? the Gale-Shapley mechanism and the modified Boston mechanism. Data from the experiment will provide a rigorous evaluation of the family of mechanisms in the school choice context. The PIs then propose experimental studies of the college admissions mechanisms, with variants used in China. Both the theoretical and the experimental studies of these mechanisms are essential to advancing knowledge. Mechanisms cannot be evaluated purely on theoretical grounds, because people may not use them as intended. Nor can they be evaluated as used in the real world, because we donot have access to people?s true preferences. Experiments are vital to understanding how mechanisms will perform. It is important to note that the findings will guide both theory and practice regardless of whether the hypotheses are confirmed or rejected.(2) Broader impacts: School choice has been one of the most important and most widely debated topics in the past twenty years. In the current debate on school reform, choice has moved to the top of the national agenda. The Boston mechanism is a prominent algorithm used in several cities pioneering the school choice program, but its performance has not been thoroughly evaluated. As more states have passed legislation mandating intra- or inter-district choice, it is urgent to evaluate this mechanism as well as alternative mechanisms in order to make meaningful policy recommendations. Similarly, college admissions mechanisms in China present a new class of matching problems which influence the education and labor market outcomes of more than 10 million high school seniors every year. The research proposal has the potential to benefit society by influencing the method by which students are matched with schools and colleges. The successful and timely completion of the proposed experimental program is only possible with the involvement of undergraduate and graduate students. Chen has been working with undergraduatestudents through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program at the University of Michigan since 1999 and the NSF REU program. The PIs will continue to include 1-2 undergraduate students in this research project every year. New undergraduate students will have the opportunity to become involved in most phases of the project, including literature review, assistance in conducting experiments and preliminary data analysis. Analysis of large data sets requires the hard work and dedication of graduate students. Therefore, the PIs plan to get one graduate student research assistant for each year of the project. Graduate students are encouraged to participate in conferences and workshops to present their research to the research community. Graduate students will learn the entire process of experimental research, from experimental design, execution, data analysis to writing and presentation.