Working Paper: NBER ID: w11712
Authors: Daniel S. Hamermesh
Abstract: I estimate the effects of changing an ascriptive characteristic on a market outcome while keeping the average amount of information unchanged. Taking advantage of candidates' multiple appearances in elections to office in a professional association and of the presence of different photographs accompanying the ballots, I show that exogenous increases in beauty raise a candidate's chance of success. The results support the inference that differential outcomes are inherent in agents' responses to an ascriptive characteristic and do not stem from correlations with unobserved differences in productivity-enhancing characteristics.
Keywords: beauty; discrimination; elections; economics
JEL Codes: J7
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| exogenous increases in beauty (O40) | chances of being elected (D72) |
| beauty (Y60) | electoral success (K16) |
| higher beauty ratings (C52) | electoral chances for male candidates (K16) |
| beauty (Y60) | probability of election (K16) |