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February 12, 2026Journal of Economics & Management Strategy0 citationsOpen Access

Evaluating University Graduates: Prestige Versus Merit

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RBRaphael BoleslavskyCLCheng Li

Key Points

  • This research aims to explore the impact of evaluator type on university investments in education quality and graduate placements.
  • Developed a game theoretical model to analyze university competition in education quality.
  • Compared outcomes of merit-based and prestige-based evaluations.
  • Examined conditions under which prestige evaluations incentivize stronger educational investments.
  • Prestige-based evaluations can lead to increased investments by universities.
  • A higher probability of receiving prestige-based evaluations enhances the organization's benefit.
  • The model indicates that gradual improvements in prestige lead to better outcomes for graduates.

Abstract

ABSTRACT We study a game in which universities compete by making unobservable investments in education quality. Subsequently, the graduates are considered for a single placement by an organization. A merit‐based evaluator compares the realized skill of each graduate. A prestige‐based evaluator only observes a noisy signal of the universities' relative education quality. Though a prestige‐based evaluator does not know the true skills of the graduates, we derive conditions under which an increase in the probability of the prestige‐based evaluator incentivizes higher investment and benefits the organization.

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Cite This Study

Boleslavsky et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/698d6e7b5be6419ac0d5445dhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jems.70025
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Not Only the Score: A Promoter-Based Merit Negotiation in Elite College Admission Battle2025
  2. 2Prestige at Play: University Hierarchies and the Reproduction of Funding Inequalities2025
  3. 3Asymmetric Players in a Meritocracy: A Case for Affirmative Action2025
  4. 4Grades for glory? The impact of grade appeasement on business school teacher evaluations2024
  5. 5The Mobility Recognition Game: Why Meritocratic Ascent Cannot Correct Itself2026