Graduate Seminar Series (Dr. Jay Sethuraman)

Date/Time
Date(s) - November 18, 2022
11:45 am - 12:35 pm

Location
Weil Hall 406

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Jay Sethuraman
Date : Friday, November 18, 2022
Mode : In-Person
Affiliation: Columbia University
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Title : Explainable Affirmative Action

Abstract : When organizations select from a set of applicants, they often use a priority ranking in tandem with policies designed to ensure diversity or boost the chances of applicants from certain groups. These policies add significant complexity to the selection process, and examples from around the world show that they often do not have the intended effect, or are accompanied by unintended consequences. To make selection rules more transparent, we provide three axioms intended to capture explainability: monotonicity, lower invariance, and non-bossiness. We show that these axioms characterize a family of “outcome-based” selection rules. This family of selection rules is rich enough to incorporate many (but not all) existing reserve and quota policies. Our approach is motivated by the observation that it is easier for the general public and policymakers to reason about outcomes rather than algorithms. [Joint work with Nick Arnosti (Minnesota) and Carlos Bonet (Columbia)]

Bio : Jay Sethuraman is a Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Columbia University. He is currently the chair of the IEOR department. His research interests are in market design, discrete optimization and its applications, scheduling theory, and applied probability.

List of Fall 2022 Graduate Seminar Series : Click Here