- Title Pages
- Winners of the IZA Prize in Labor Economics
- Frontispiece
- Award Statement of the IZA Prize Committee
- I Daniel S. Hamermesh: The Pioneer in Labor Demand Research
- II Aspects of Labor Demand
- III Labor Demand
- 1 Labor Market Competition among Youths, White Women and Others
- 2 Spectral Analysis of the Relation between Gross Employment Changes and Output Changes, 1958–1966
- 3 Labor Demand and the Structure of Adjustment Costs*
- 4 Labor Demand and the Source of Adjustment Costs
- 5 Turnover and the Dynamics of Labor Demand
- 6 Job Turnover and Labor Turnover: A Taxonomy of Employment Dynamics
- IV Policy on the Demand Side
- 7 Minimum Wages and the Demand for Labor
- 8 The Demand for Hours of Labor: Direct Evidence From California
- 9 The Timing of Labor Demand
- 10 The Costs of Worker Displacement
- 11 Policy Equilibria in a Federal System: The Effects of Higher Tax Ceilings for Unemployment Insurance
- V Discrimination: Preferences for People
- 12 Beauty and the Labor Market
- 13 Tall or Taller, Pretty or Prettier: Is Discrimination Absolute or Relative?
- 14 Beauty, Productivity and Discrimination: Lawyers’ Looks and Lucre
- 15 What is Discrimination? Gender in the American Economic Association, 1935–2004
- 16 Strike Three: Discrimination, Incentives, and Evaluation
- VI Where Has Research on Labor Demand Been? Where Is It Going?
- References
- Index
- About the Author…
- …and the Editors
Tall or Taller, Pretty or Prettier: Is Discrimination Absolute or Relative?
Tall or Taller, Pretty or Prettier: Is Discrimination Absolute or Relative?
- Chapter:
- (p.279) 13 Tall or Taller, Pretty or Prettier: Is Discrimination Absolute or Relative?
- Source:
- Demand for Labor
- Author(s):
Daniel S. Hamermesh
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Using several microeconomic data sets from the United States and the Netherlands, and the examples of height and beauty, this study examines whether: 1) Absolute or relative differences in a characteristic are what affect labor-market and other outcomes; and 2) The effects of a characteristic change when all agents acquire more of it–become taller or better-looking. Confronted with a choice among individuals, decision-makers respond more to absolute than to relative differences among them. Also, an increase in the mean of a characteristic’s distribution does not alter market responses to differences in it.
Keywords: Discrimination, height differences, looks and earnings, mean/variance of characteristics, information
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- Title Pages
- Winners of the IZA Prize in Labor Economics
- Frontispiece
- Award Statement of the IZA Prize Committee
- I Daniel S. Hamermesh: The Pioneer in Labor Demand Research
- II Aspects of Labor Demand
- III Labor Demand
- 1 Labor Market Competition among Youths, White Women and Others
- 2 Spectral Analysis of the Relation between Gross Employment Changes and Output Changes, 1958–1966
- 3 Labor Demand and the Structure of Adjustment Costs*
- 4 Labor Demand and the Source of Adjustment Costs
- 5 Turnover and the Dynamics of Labor Demand
- 6 Job Turnover and Labor Turnover: A Taxonomy of Employment Dynamics
- IV Policy on the Demand Side
- 7 Minimum Wages and the Demand for Labor
- 8 The Demand for Hours of Labor: Direct Evidence From California
- 9 The Timing of Labor Demand
- 10 The Costs of Worker Displacement
- 11 Policy Equilibria in a Federal System: The Effects of Higher Tax Ceilings for Unemployment Insurance
- V Discrimination: Preferences for People
- 12 Beauty and the Labor Market
- 13 Tall or Taller, Pretty or Prettier: Is Discrimination Absolute or Relative?
- 14 Beauty, Productivity and Discrimination: Lawyers’ Looks and Lucre
- 15 What is Discrimination? Gender in the American Economic Association, 1935–2004
- 16 Strike Three: Discrimination, Incentives, and Evaluation
- VI Where Has Research on Labor Demand Been? Where Is It Going?
- References
- Index
- About the Author…
- …and the Editors
