【開催報告】グローバル経済史研究部会（10月27日）/ Global Economic History Seminar on October 27th

講演者

氏名：森口千晶

所属：早稲田大学

資格：教授

開催概要

開催日時：　2026年10月27日　15:05－16:45
開催方法：　早稲田大学早稲田キャンパス3号館7階703教室およびオンライン（Zoom） 

講演報告

講演タイトル：Meritocracy and Its Discontents: Long-run Effects of Repeated School Admission Reforms in Japan

講演概要：
What happens if selective colleges change their admission policies? We study this question by analyzing the world’s first implementation of nationally centralized meritocratic admissions in the early twentieth century in Japan. We find a persistent meritocracy-equity tradeoff. Compared to the decentralized system, the centralized system admitted more high-achievers and produced more occupational elites (such as top income earners and skilled professionals) decades later in the labor market. This gain came at a distributional cost, however. Meritocratic centralization also increased the number of urban-born elites relative to the rural-born, undermining equal access to higher education and career advancement.