Support for a demographically based selection method at University: The role of competition

Building on the instrumental model of group conflict (IMGC), the present experiment investigates the support for discriminatory and meritocratic method of selections at university in a sample of local and immigrant students. Results showed that local students were supporting in a larger proportion selection method that favors them over immigrants in comparison to method that consists in selecting the best applicants without considering his/her origin. Supporting the assumption of the IMGC, this effect was stronger for locals who perceived immigrants as competing for resources. Immigrant students supported more strongly the meritocratic selection method than the one that discriminated them. However, contrasting with the assumption of the IMGC, this effect was only present in students who perceived immigrants as weakly competing for locals' resources. Results demonstrate that selection methods used at university can be perceived differently depending on students' origin. Further, they suggest that the mechanisms underlying the perception of discriminatory and meritocratic selection methods differ between local and immigrant students. Hence, the present experiment makes a theoretical contribution to the IMGC by delimiting its assumptions to the ingroup facing a competitive situation with a relevant outgroup. Practical implication for universities recruitment policies are discussed.

The influence of decision-maker effort and case complexity on appealed rulings subject to multi-categorical selection

This study extends the standard econometric treatment of appellate court outcomes by 1) considering the role of decision-maker effort and case complexity, and 2) adopting a multi-categorical selection process of appealed cases. We find evidence of appellate courts being affected by both the effort made by first-stage decision makers and case complexity. This illustrates the value of widening the narrowly defined focus on heterogeneity in individual-specific preferences that characterises many applied studies on legal decision-making. Further, the majority of appealed cases represent non-random sub-samples and the multi-categorical selection process appears to offer advantages over the more commonly used dichotomous selection models.