Do Looks Matter for an Academic Career in Economics?

Galina Hale, Tali Regev and Yona Rubinstein

No 15893, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We document appearance effects in the economics profession. Using unique data on PhD graduates from ten of the top economics departments in the United States we test whether more attractive individuals are more likely to succeed. We find robust evidence that appearance has predictive power for job outcomes and research productivity. Attractive individuals are more likely to study at higher ranked PhD institutions and are more likely to be placed at higher-ranking academic institutions not only for their first job, but also for jobs as many as 15 years after their graduation, even when we control for the ranking of PhD institution and first job. Appearance also predicts the success of research output: while it does not predict the number of papers an individual writes, it predicts the number of citations for a given number of papers, again even when we control for the ranking of the PhD institution and first job. All these effects are robust, statistically significant, and substantial in magnitude.

Keywords: Beauty; Appearance; Economists * (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 J16 J71 M51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe, nep-lma and nep-sog
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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