Tall or taller, pretty or prettier: Is discrimination absolute or relative?

Artikel

Using microeconomic data sets from the United States and the Netherlands, this study considers how agents perceive characteristics that are discriminated against. It uses the examples of beauty and height to examine whether: 1) Absolute or relative differences in a characteristic affect labor-market and other outcomes; and 2) The effects of a characteristic change when all agents acquire more of it. Decision-makers seem to respond more to absolute than to relative differences among individuals. Weaker results show that an increase in the mean of a characteristic's distribution does not alter market responses to differences in it.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: IZA Journal of Labor Economics ; ISSN: 2193-8997 ; Volume: 1 ; Year: 2012 ; Pages: 1-17 ; Heidelberg: Springer

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Labor Discrimination ; Labor Discrimination: Public Policy
• Subject: Beauty ; Height ; Discrimination ; Market responses ; Diskriminierung ; Biologische Daten ; Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung ; Schätzung ; USA ; Niederlande

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Hamermesh, Daniel S.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Springer
• (where): Heidelberg
• (when): 2012

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1186/2193-8997-1-2
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/92271
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET