Myth or fact? The beauty premium across the wage distribution in Germany.

Karina Doorley, Eva Sierminska

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We allow for differential effects of physical appearance across the wage distribution using a technique traditionally used in the finance literature. We find an average beauty premium of 2?4% for women, which is concentrated at the bottom of the wage distribution. The average beauty premium for men is larger at 5?7% and is present throughout the wage distribution. Both of these vary by education level. We find that differences in characteristics (such as age, family composition, labor market attributes, etc.) between beautiful and plain people contribute to the beauty premium identified using traditional regression models. Isolating this characteristic effect from the unexplained effect using decomposition techniques leads to smaller beauty premia.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)29-34
Number of pages0
JournalEconomics Letters
Volume129
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Discrimination
  • Distribution
  • Physical Appearance
  • Wages

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