  Using the 2MASS Second Incremental Data Release, we have searched for near
infrared counterparts to 13214 quasars from the Veron-Cetty & Veron(2000)
catalog. We have detected counterparts within 4 arcsec for 2277 of the
approximately 6320 quasars within the area covered by the 2MASS Second
Incremental Data Release. Only 1.6% of these are expected to be chance
coincidences. Though this sample is heterogeneous, we find that known
radio-loud quasars are more likely to have large near-infrared-to-optical
luminosity ratios than radio-quiet quasars are, at a statistically significant
level. This is consistent with dust-reddened quasars being more common in
radio-selected samples than in optically-selected samples, due to stronger
selection effects against dust-reddened quasars in the latter. We also find a
statistically significant dearth of optically luminous quasars with large
near-infrared-to-optical luminosity ratios. This can be explained in a dust
obscuration model but not in a model where synchrotron emission extends from
the radio into the near-infrared and creates such large ratios. We also find
that selection of quasar candidates from the B-J/J-K color-color diagram,
modelled on the V-J/J-K selection method of Warren, Hewett & Foltz (2000), is
likely to be more sensitive to dust-obscured quasars than selection using only
infrared-infrared colors.
