"Affirmative Action in India: Restricted Strategy Space, Complex Constraints, and Direct Mechanism Design." 

Bertan Turhan

Iowa State University

Abstract: India has implemented a large-scale affirmative action program via a sophisticated reservation policy. Vertical reservations (VR) earmarks

fractions of institutions' positions to historically discriminated Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes

(OBC). Horizontal reservations (HR) set aside positions within each vertical category for special groups such as women and the disabled

and may overlap. In college admission, unfilled OBC positions, if any, are provided to others as unreserved. We introduce the Generalized

Lexicographic (GL) choice rules to accommodate complicated diversity and affirmative action constraints. This family nests practical market design literature's most important choice rules. By invoking these choice rules and the deferred acceptance mechanism coupled with GL choice rules, we offer desirable solutions for Indian resource allocation problems.