American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Why Beauty Matters
American Economic Review
vol. 96,
no. 1, March 2006
(pp. 222–235)
Abstract
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.Citation
Mobius, Markus, M., and Tanya S. Rosenblat. 2006. "Why Beauty Matters." American Economic Review, 96 (1): 222–235. DOI: 10.1257/000282806776157515Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- J71 Labor Discrimination
- M52 Personnel Economics: Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration