Redesigning the US Army’s Branching Process: A Case Study in Minimalist Market Design
以极简市场设计方法，基于尊重功绩、提高留任率、匹配人才和增强信任四个目标，为美国陆军学员分配军事专业设计了一个新机制，已被西点军校和ROTC采用。
We present a proof-of-concept for minimalist market design (Sönmez 2023) as an effective methodology to enhance an institution based on stakeholders’ desiderata with minimal interference. Four objectives— respecting merit, increasing retention, aligning talent, and enhancing trust—guided reforms to the US Army’s centralized branching process of cadets to military specialties since 2006. USMA’s mechanism for the class of 2020 exacerbated challenges in implementing these objectives. Formulating the Army’s desiderata as rigorous axioms, we analyze their implications. Under our minimalist approach to institution redesign, the Army’s objectives uniquely identify a branching mechanism. Our design is now adopted at USMA and ROTC.