Title

Top of the Batch: Interviews and the Match

Author(s)

Federico Echenique Federico Echenique (Caltech)

Ruy Gonzalez Ruy Gonzalez (Caltech)

Alistair J Wilson Alistair Wilson (University of Pittsburgh)

Leeat Yariv Leeat Yariv (Princeton University, CEPR, and NBER)

Abstract

Most doctors in the NRMP match with one of their most-preferred internship pro-grams. However, surveys indicate doctors’ preferences are similar, suggesting a puzzle:how can so many doctors match with their top choices when positions are scarce? We provide one possible explanation. We show that the patterns in the NRMP data may bean artifact of the interview process that precedes the match. Our study highlights the importance of understanding market interactions occurring before and after a matching clearinghouse, and casts doubts on analyses of clearinghouses that take reported preferences at face value.

Creation Date

2020-12

Section URL ID

Paper Number

271

URL

http://lyariv.mycpanel.princeton.edu//papers/MatchInterviews.pdf

File Function

Jel

C78, D47, J44

Keyword(s)

NRMP, Deferred acceptance, Interviews, First-rank matches, National Resident Matching Program, United States

Suppress

false

Series

3