Mismatch in Law School

36 Pages Posted: 1 Sep 2008 Last revised: 2 Jan 2023

See all articles by Jesse Rothstein

Jesse Rothstein

University of California, Berkeley, The Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy; University of California, Berkeley, College of Letters & Science, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Albert Yoon

University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 2008

Abstract

An important criticism of race-based higher education admission preferences is that they may hurt minority students who attend more selective schools than they would in the absence of such preferences. We categorize the non-experimental research designs available for the study of so-called "mismatch" effects and evaluate the likely biases in each. We select two comparisons and use them to examine mismatch effects in law school. We find no evidence of mismatch effects on any students' employment outcomes or on the graduation or bar passage rates of black students with moderate or strong entering credentials. What evidence there is for mismatch comes from less-qualified black students who typically attend second- or third-tier schools. Many of these students would not have been admitted to any law school without preferences, however, and the resulting sample selection prevents strong conclusions.

Suggested Citation

Rothstein, Jesse and Yoon, Albert, Mismatch in Law School (August 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w14275, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1261462

Jesse Rothstein (Contact Author)

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Albert Yoon

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