Talent vs. Fit: Partner Selection and the Moderate's Trap

Byung-Cheol Kim, Jin Yeub Kim and Hyunjun Cho
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Byung-Cheol Kim: University of Alabama
Jin Yeub Kim: Yonsei University
Hyunjun Cho: University of Pennsylvania

No 2026rwp-279, Working papers from Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute

Abstract: We study partner selection when higher productivity comes at the cost of weaker expected collaborative fit. When this tradeoff is strong, expected surplus is U-shaped: both high-productivity "difficult stars" and low-productivity "team players" generate higher expected value than moderately productive partners. This Moderate's Trap overturns the standard economic prediction that surplus increases monotonically with talent. In competitive labor markets, moderate workers are disadvantaged, and workers invest to specialize at the extremes, polarizing the productivity distribution. Our framework microfounds a demand-side force that operates against moderate performers, complementing existing technology-based explanations of modern labor market polarization and specialization.

Keywords: Partner selection; productivity; collaborative fit; difficult stars; wage polarization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 D82 J31 L23 M51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50pages
Date: 2026-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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