Piano Concertos reduced to Two Pianos

From my experience in music conservatories, the reduced versions of piano concertos are often treated as the cheaper means to perform a concerto in either a student recital or for competitions, with the hopes that one day it may lead to the soloist being invited to play the real version with the full orchestra. In your opinion, should the two-piano versions of piano concertos be treated more than just a replacement? Two-piano transcriptions for full orchestral works seem to be quite popular repertoire choice for established piano ensembles, and I don't see why piano concertos can't be treated the same way.