Test-optional Admissions and Job Market Performance: Experimental Evidence from Japan

Fumiya Uchikoshi, Etienne Gagnon and Atsushi Yamagishi

No 775, Discussion Paper Series from Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University

Abstract: We analyze how test-optional admissions affect students’ job market outcomes. To this end, we conduct an experiment that corrects employers’misperceptions about the prevalence of test-optional admissions in Japan, where both test-optional and test-based admissions coexist within the same schools and programs. We find that test-optional admissions function as a signal of students’ ability and induce statistical discrimination against test-optional applicants during resume screening. This discount applied to test-optional applicants is particularly pronounced at lower-ranked institutions, which tend to enroll students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Consequently, the adoption of test-optional admissions may disproportionately harm these students in the labor market.

Keywords: Test-optional admissions; Survey experiment; Job market; Statistical discrimination; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 J22 J24 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58 pages
Date: 2026-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hit:hituec:775

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