Now you see it, now you don’t: The vanishing beauty premium

Beauty, Job Tasks, and Wages: A New Conclusion about Employer Taste-Based Discrimination

“…However, although our unique data allow an opportunity to identify assumptions under which we can differentiate between this explanation and a customer preference-based discrimination explanation, in general making this distinction is difficult for both conceptual and empirical reasons. It is also possible that our results are consistent with a scenario in which employers unintentionally discriminate because they have incorrect views about the productivity of attractiveness in jobs that require a large amount of interpersonal interaction (see, e.g., the experimental work of Mobius andRosenblat, 2006, andDeryugina andShurchkov, 2015). 6,7 As has been frequently recognized, attractiveness may be correlated with other cognitive or non-cognitive traits that influence wages (Mobius and Rosenblat, 2006;Deryugina and Shurchkov, 2015;Scholz and Sicinski, 2015).…”

“…It is also possible that our results are consistent with a scenario in which employers unintentionally discriminate because they have incorrect views about the productivity of attractiveness in jobs that require a large amount of interpersonal interaction (see, e.g., the experimental work of Mobius andRosenblat, 2006, andDeryugina andShurchkov, 2015). 6,7 As has been frequently recognized, attractiveness may be correlated with other cognitive or non-cognitive traits that influence wages (Mobius and Rosenblat, 2006;Deryugina and Shurchkov, 2015;Scholz and Sicinski, 2015). 8 Our access to detailed administrative data from the college period allows us to control for the most widely recognized proxy for cognitive human capital at the time of workforce entrance, college GPA, and we also take advantage of access to self-reported measures of non-cognitive skills such as communication ability.…”

Beauty, Job Tasks, and Wages: A New Conclusion about Employer Taste-Based Discrimination

“…It is also possible that our results are consistent with a scenario in which employers unintentionally discriminate because they have incorrect views about the productivity of attractiveness in jobs that require a large amount of interpersonal interaction (see, e.g., the experimental work of Mobius andRosenblat, 2006, andDeryugina andShurchkov, 2015), although access to longitudinal data can provide some evidence against this possibility if one believes that employers eventually learn the productivity of their workers. 6 7 As has been frequently recognized, attractiveness may be correlated with other cognitive or non-cognitive traits that influence wages (Mobius and Rosenblat, 2006;Deryugina and Shurchkov, 2015;Scholz and Sicinski, 2015). 8 Our access to detailed administrative data from the college period allows us to control for the most widely recognized proxy for cognitive human capital at the time of workforce entrance, college GPA, and we also take advantage of access to self-reported measures of non-cognitive skills such as communication ability.…”

Beauty is wealth: CEO attractiveness and firm value

“…Mobius and Rosenblat (2006) further show that more confidence, better perceived ability, and better communication skills of attractive workers contribute to this beauty premium. Other studies also confirm the existence of beauty premium (Andreoni & Petrie, 2008; Deryugina & Shurchkov, 2015). Finally, Ruffle and Shtudiner (2015) show that job candidates' attractiveness affects employment decisions.…”