Optimizing China’s College Entrance Examination: Integrating Deferred Acceptance Principles into the Parallel Volunteer System and theoretical extensions---Evidence from Zhejiang Province

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-585-0_50How to use a DOI?

Keywords

College Entrance Examination (Gaokao); Parallel Voluntary System; Deferred Acceptance Algorithm; Matching Mechanism; Pareto Efficiency

Abstract

The College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) is pivotal in China’s education system, with its Parallel Voluntary System (PVS) representing a significant admission mechanism in this system. However, while improving the flexibility of choices and reducing high-score student rejection risks compared to sequential systems, the PVS still faces some persistent challenges, such as strategic manipulation by applicants, residual efficiency loss, and stability issues. This study proposes a theoretical framework by systematically comparing the PVS with the Deferred Acceptance (DA) algorithm, an essential mechanism in market design, which perfectly balanced the Pareto efficiency and the stability of the system. Through a systematic analysis of their core mechanisms (information structure, matching process, agent roles), expected goals (fairness, efficiency, stability), and operational feasibility, we identify critical limitations in the current PVS framework and attempt to explore practical methods to improve the Gaokao admission system. This study will introduce some potential hybrid solutions inspired by DA principles, such as integrating a “proposal-tentative acceptance” stage in the PVS to enhance information transparency and preference guidance to encourage truthful preference revelation and reducing rejection risks through “tentative hold” statuses in DA mechanisms. The findings would demonstrate the significant theoretical and practical value of DA mechanisms in balancing the fairness, efficiency, and stability of higher education admissions in China.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Leyan Bao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/18
TI  - Optimizing China’s College Entrance Examination: Integrating Deferred Acceptance Principles into the Parallel Volunteer System and theoretical extensions---Evidence from Zhejiang Province
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 International Conference on Hybrid Commerce, Human Capital, and Economic Dynamics (ICHCH 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 436
EP  - 448
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-585-0_50
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-585-0_50
ID  - Bao2026
ER  -