Beauty Premium and Marriage Premium in Search Equilibrium: Theory and Empirical Test

Roberto Bonilla, Francis Kiraly and John Wildman

No 5242, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We propose a theoretical explanation for the so-called “beauty premium”. Our approach relies entirely on search frictions and the fact that physical appearance plays an important role in attracting a marriage partner. We analyse the interaction between frictional labour and marriage markets, making use of what we label constrained job search. The optimal strategy entails different reservation wages for different men, and we establish the existence of a search equilibrium characterised by beauty premium and/or marriage premium. Predicted profiles of premia allow for potential falsification tests and point to relevant empirical evidence in support of our theory.

Keywords: search; frictional labour market; frictional marriage market; beauty premium; marriage premium (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 J12 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: BEAUTY PREMIUM AND MARRIAGE PREMIUM IN SEARCH EQUILIBRIUM: THEORY AND EMPIRICAL TEST (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5242

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