A Model of Declining Standards
构建了一个模型，其中相对地位决定标准。模型包含三类主体：想通过考试的候选人、已通过考试的精英成员以及决定谁通过的法官。候选人必须表现得不低于精英代表才能通过。数据无扰动时标准不变，但评判偏好的扰动会导致标准下降。
This paper presents a model in which relative standing determines standards. There are three kinds of agents in the model: candidates who wish to pass a test, members of the elite who have passed the test, and the judge who decides who passes. In order to pass, a candidate's performance must be at least as good as the performance of a representative member of the elite. Without perturbations in the underlying data, the model predicts that standards will not change. Perturbations in the preferences used to judge candidates lead to a reduction in standards.