The Effects and Dynamics of Blind Hiring

Last registered on October 30, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Effects and Dynamics of Blind Hiring
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013434
Initial registration date
April 22, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 26, 2024, 11:58 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
October 30, 2025, 2:43 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Minjeong Joyce Kim
Affiliation
University of Michigan
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Heesung Kim
PI Affiliation
University of Michigan
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PI Name
Seung Yong Sung
PI Affiliation
University of California, Berkeley
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-10-30
End date
2026-06-30
Keywords
Behavior, Gender, Lab, Labor
Additional Keywords
blind hiring, discrimination, hiring bias
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We examine how blinding workers’ observable group characteristics affects employers’ perceptions of productivity and hiring outcomes in a two-stage hiring process: an initial resume screening by HR and a subsequent technical interview by engineers.

We aim to answer the following primary questions under an experimental set-up:
1. Do agents in different stages of the hiring exhibit different hiring preferences (e.g., based on candidates’ demographic characteristics)?
2. How does blinding the observable group characteristics affect employers' subjective evaluation of job applicants?
(a) Does this, in turn, alter the composition of candidates who advance or are ultimately hired?
3. How does the effect of blind hiring interact with multiple stages of hiring?
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kim, Heesung , Minjeong Joyce Kim and Seung Yong Sung. 2025. "The Effects and Dynamics of Blind Hiring." AEA RCT Registry. October 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13434-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Firm participants are randomized into control and treatment groups. Participants assigned to the treatment group receive resumes (and codes, for engineer participants) with applicants' names blinded, while participants in the control group receive the same set of resumes (and codes, for engineer participants), but the names of the applicants will be revealed.
Intervention Start Date
2025-10-30
Intervention End Date
2026-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome variables measured via the survey are:

1. How good do you think this person will be in coding? [scale of 0 - 10]
2. How good of a fit do you think this person will be in your workplace? [scale of 0 - 10]
3. How likely would this person stay in your company for the next 5 years? [scale of 0 - 10]
4. How would you rate this person overall? [value between 0 and 100]
5. (HR participants only) Would you select this person to advance to the next hiring stage for more in-depth technical evaluation? [Yes/No]
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Please refer to the details of the experimental design in Section 4 in our registered pre-analysis plan.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomizaton done in a survey platform Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 employer participants.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 employer participants assigned to the "blind" treatment arm, and 100 employer participants assigned to the control arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Michigan
IRB Approval Date
2024-02-23
IRB Approval Number
HUM00242325
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Blind_Hiring_PAP

MD5:

SHA1:

Uploaded At: October 30, 2025