Why beauty matters

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mobius, MM; Rosenblat, TS
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Wesleyan University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/000282806776157515
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 222-235
• 关键词: physical attractiveness; labor-market; DISCRIMINATION; success; GENDER; game

摘要

We decompose the beauty premium in an experimental labor market where employers determine wages of workers who perform a maze-solving task. This task requires a true skill which we show to be unaffected by physical attractiveness. We find a sizable beauty premium and can identify three transmission channels: (a) physically attractive workers are more confident and higher confidence increases wages; (b) for a given level of confidence, physically attractive workers are (wrongly) considered more able by employers; (c) controlling for worker confidence, physically attractive workers have oral skills (such as communication and social skills) that raise their wages when they interact with employers. Our methodology can be adopted to study the sources of discriminatory pay differentials in other settings.