Outliers
Richard Ronay et al.
Psychological Science, June 2012, Pages 669-677
Abstract:
Two experiments examined the psychological and biological antecedents of hierarchical differentiation and the resulting consequences for productivity and conflict within small groups. In Experiment 1, which used a priming manipulation, hierarchically differentiated groups (i.e., groups comprising 1 high-power-primed, 1 low-power-primed, and 1 baseline individual) performed better on a procedurally interdependent task than did groups comprising exclusively either all high-power-primed or all low-power-primed individuals. There were no effects of hierarchical differentiation on performance on a procedurally independent task. Experiment 2 used a biological marker of dominance motivation (prenatal testosterone exposure as measured by a digit-length ratio) to manipulate hierarchical differentiation. The pattern of results from Experiment 1 was replicated; mixed-testosterone groups achieved greater productivity than did groups comprising all high-testosterone or all low-testosterone individuals. Furthermore, intragroup conflict mediated the productivity decrements for the high-testosterone but not the low-testosterone groups. This research suggests possible directions for future research and the need to further delineate the conditions and types of hierarchy under which hierarchical differentiation enhances rather than undermines group effectiveness.
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Top performers are not the most impressive when extreme performance indicates unreliability
Jerker Denrell & Chengwei Liu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 12 June 2012, Pages 9331-9336
Abstract:
The relationship between performance and ability is a central concern in the social sciences: Are the most successful much more able than others, and are failures unskilled? Prior research has shown that noise and self-reinforcing dynamics make performance unpredictable and lead to a weak association between ability and performance. Here we show that the same mechanisms that generate unpredictability imply that extreme performances can be relatively uninformative about ability. As a result, the highest performers may not have the highest expected ability and should not be imitated or praised. We show that whether higher performance indicates higher ability depends on whether extreme performance could be achieved by skill or requires luck.
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History matters: New evidence on the long run impact of colonial rule on institutions
Patricia Jones
Journal of Comparative Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper proposes a new instrument for institutional quality which varies across countries with historically low rates of European settlement. Using a new data set which exploits differences in the quality of colonial administration, it finds evidence that colonies with better paid colonial governors developed better institutions (and became wealthier) than colonies with lesser paid governors. Initially, the best paid governors were sent to colonies which generated the largest revenues but, since the governors' pay scale remained largely fixed for the next forty years, the same colonies continued to receive the best governors. The data indicate that these early differences in colonial administration - and not initial differences in revenue generating capacity - had a long-run impact on economic development.
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Who Are the Giants on Whose Shoulders We Stand?
David Laband & Suman Majumdar
Kyklos, May 2012, Pages 236-244
Abstract:
The scientific community is just that - a community - and the success/influence of any one individual likely reflects, at least in certain measure, the contributions made previously by others. This suggests that rather than merely ranking economists on the basis of raw citation counts, one might gain real insights about the giants laboring in relative obscurity by identifying who the authors of exceptionally influential papers drew their inspiration from. We identify the most-highly-cited (409) papers published in economics from 2001-2005, then examine who the authors of these high-impact papers drew from in terms of developing the ideas/arguments/applications presented in these papers. We find that a very small group of individuals had a comparatively large impact on the economics profession, in terms of influencing the subsequent work of authors of extraordinarily highly-cited papers. Further, there is relatively little consistency between our list of ‘giants' and Nobel Prize winners in Economics.
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Rich Dad, Smart Dad: Decomposing the Intergenerational Transmission of Income
Lars Lefgren, Matthew Lindquist & David Sims
Journal of Political Economy, April 2012, Pages 268-303
Abstract:
We construct a simple model, consistent with Becker and Tomes, that decomposes the intergenerational income elasticity into the causal effect of financial resources, the mechanistic transmission of human capital, and the role that human capital plays in the determination of fathers' permanent incomes. We show how a particular set of instrumental variables could separately identify the money and human capital transmission effects. Using data from a 35 percent sample of Swedish sons and their fathers, we show that only a minority of the intergenerational income elasticity can be plausibly attributed to the causal effect of fathers' financial resources.
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Relative Consumption: A Model of Peers, Status, and Labor Supply
Muhammad Faress Bhuiyan
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
The paper presents a model of relative consumption where individual utility depends on consumption relative to peers (local status), relative rank of peer group in the economy (global status), and leisure. The resultant model offers an explanation of the increase in the working hours of the more productive US workers relative to the less productive ones over the last decade. The model further predicts that the relative labor supply based on productivities will be higher in the more populated areas. Analyzing historical labor supply data in the US, Costa (2000) finds that across different industries and occupational categories, the lower paid workers worked the longest days in 1890 while the higher paid workers worked the longest days in 1991. This pattern is robust to controls including age, marital status, number of dependents, state and year fixed effects. Studies using education as a measure of productivity have documented similar findings (Robinson and Godbey 1997; Coleman and Pencavel 1993). In addition to shedding light on these labor supply trends, two testable hypotheses derived from the model are examined using micro data from the American Community Survey (ACS) of 2007.
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The Local-Ladder Effect: Social Status and Subjective Well-Being
Cameron Anderson et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Dozens of studies in different nations have revealed that socioeconomic status only weakly predicts an individual's subjective well-being (SWB). These results imply that although the pursuit of social status is a fundamental human motivation, achieving high status has little impact on one's SWB. However, we propose that sociometric status - the respect and admiration one has in face-to-face groups (e.g., among friends or coworkers) - has a stronger effect on SWB than does socioeconomic status. Using correlational, experimental, and longitudinal methodologies, four studies found consistent evidence for a local-ladder effect: Sociometric status significantly predicted satisfaction with life and the experience of positive and negative emotions. Longitudinally, as sociometric status rose or fell, SWB rose or fell accordingly. Furthermore, these effects were driven by feelings of power and social acceptance. Overall, individuals' sociometric status matters more to their SWB than does their socioeconomic status.
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Rank as an inherent incentive: Evidence from a field experiment
Anh Tran & Richard Zeckhauser
Journal of Public Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Money is the prime incentive considered in economic models. However, recent evidence indicates that people are also greatly concerned about their social rankings. Is this solely because rank brings tangible benefits, or because in addition people have an inherent preference for high rank? This paper deployed a field experiment that provides evidence for an inherent preference. In the experiment, Vietnamese students enrolled in an English course performed significantly better on the official standardized international final test when they were told their rankings on practice tests than when they were not. This result held even when this ranking information could not be reliably communicated, thus severely attenuating the potential to bring tangible or status benefits.
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Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?
Steven Kaplan, Mark Klebanov & Morten Sorensen
Journal of Finance, June 2012, Pages 973-1007
Abstract:
We exploit a unique data set to study individual characteristics of CEO candidates for companies involved in buyout and venture capital transactions and relate these characteristics to subsequent corporate performance. CEO candidates vary along two primary dimensions: one that captures general ability and another that contrasts communication and interpersonal skills with execution skills. We find that subsequent performance is positively related to general ability and execution skills. The findings expand our view of CEO characteristics and types relative to previous studies.
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Up-or-Out Policies When a Worker Imitates Another
Amihai Glazer
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, forthcoming
Abstract:
A worker's productivity may increase if he imitates another worker he believes had performed well. The benefits of imitation can lead a firm to adopt up-or-out rules, and to pay senior workers more than junior workers, though observed differences in productivity are small.
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Beliefs about the determinants of success and employment protection
Andreas Kyriacou
Economics Letters, July 2012, Pages 31-33
Abstract:
We show that part of the international variation in employment laws is due to different beliefs about the impact of hard work as opposed to luck and connections on success. In societies where a greater proportion of people relate their life prospects to chance and connections, stronger employment protection is in place. The prevalence of such beliefs is likely to hamper labor market reforms.
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Honestly Arrogant or Simply Misunderstood? Narcissists' Awareness of their Narcissism
Erika Carlson
Self and Identity, forthcoming
Abstract:
Narcissists describe themselves as narcissistic (e.g., arrogant). Do they have self-insight, or do they simply misunderstand the behavioral manifestations or consequences of narcissism? With two samples (undergraduates N = 86, 65% female, M age = 20; MTurk N = 234, 62% female, M age = 35), the current paper investigates whether narcissism is associated with genuine self-insight. Findings suggest that individuals higher in narcissism: (a) agree with close others (informant N = 217) that they behave in explicitly narcissistic ways (e.g., brag); (b) view narcissism as an individually desirable trait but not necessarily as a socially desirable trait; and (c) strive to be more narcissistic. Thus, it appears that narcissists truly grasp the behavioral and social significance of their narcissism.
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Inferring superior capabilities from sustained superior performance: A Bayesian analysis
Jerker Denrell, Christina Fang & Zhanyun Zhao
Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming
Abstract:
To what extent can one infer that superior capabilities are driving sustained superior performance? Modeling performance as some combination of differences in capabilities and processes of cumulative advantage, we argue that a Bayesian framework in which decision makers take into account the differences in cumulative advantage provides for a correct inference. We show, using both simulated and real performance data, that the Bayesian method gives rise to estimates relevant for the inference problem. The estimates also illustrate why a firm with superior performance during a longer period can be less likely to possess superior capabilities than a firm with superior performance during a shorter period. Our work has implications for the origins of competitive advantages and for organization learning in strategy research.
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Nathaniel Ratcliff et al.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this research, we test the hypothesis that social status will be an orienting cue to the identification of facial expressions of emotion, particularly angry expressions, especially for those who dispositionally believe that some societal groups should dominate others (Social Dominance Orientation; Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994). Using an emotion identification task, the expression of anger was identified with greater accuracy on high-status faces than low-status faces, but only for people who endorsed rigid social hierarchies (i.e., high SDO). Furthermore, people who did not endorse social hierarchies (i.e., low SDO) did not show a preference for high-status anger. Thus, the current findings provide a novel account of how social status can be an informative cue to the expression of anger in online perceptions, especially for those who view social dominance as an important framework for society.
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Suspicious Blood and Performance in Professional Cycling
Tom Coupé & Olivier Gergaud
Journal of Sports Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this note, the authors analyze whether the International Cycling Union's "index of suspicion," which reflects the extent to which a rider is suspected of using doping, correlates with performance during the 2010 Tour de France and the 1-year period before and after the 2010 Tour de France. Though our point estimates suggest a medium-sized performance improving effect of being suspected of doping, the index of suspicion can only explain a very small part of the variation in performance. This could be because the current doping practice in cycling has little effect on diverse rankings in these races.
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Reputation and Earnings: The Roles of Quality and Quantity in Academe
Daniel Hamermesh & Gerard Pfann
Economic Inquiry, January 2012, Pages 1-16
Abstract:
We examine the determinants of professional reputation. Does quantity of exposures raise reputation independent of quality? Does quality of the most important exposure have extra effects on reputation? In a very large sample of academic economists, there is little evidence that a scholar's most influential work provides any extra enhancement of reputation. Quality rankings matter more than absolute quality. Quantity has a zero or even negative effect on proxies for reputation. Data on salaries, however, show positive effects of quantity independent of quality. We test explanations for the differences between the determinants of reputation and salary.
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Pierre Azoulay, Toby Stuart & Yanbo Wang
Harvard Working Paper, December 2011
Abstract:
In a market context, a status effect occurs when actors are accorded differential recognition for their efforts depending on their location in a status ordering, holding constant the quality of these efforts. In practice, because it is very difficult to measure quality, this ceteris paribus proviso often precludes convincing empirical assessments of the magnitude of status effects. We address this problem by examining the impact of a major status-conferring prize that shifts actors' positions in a prestige ordering. Specifically, using a precisely constructed matched sample, we estimate the effect of a scientist becoming a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator (HHMI) on citations to articles the scientist published before the prize was awarded. We do find evidence of a post-appointment citation boost, but the effect is small and limited to a short window of time. Consistent with theories of status, however, the effect of the prize is significantly larger when there is uncertainty about scientist and article quality.
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Azim Shariff, Jessica Tracy & Jeffrey Markusoff
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
How do we decide who merits social status? According to functionalist theories of emotion, the nonverbal expressions of pride and shame play a key role, functioning as automatically perceived status signals. In this view, observers automatically make status inferences about expressers on the basis of these expressions, even when contradictory contextual information about the expressers' status is available. In four studies, the authors tested whether implicit and explicit status perceptions are influenced by pride and shame expressions even when these expressions' status-related messages are contradicted by contextual information. Results indicate that emotion expressions powerfully influence implicit and explicit status inferences, at times neutralizing or even overriding situational knowledge. These findings demonstrate the irrepressible communicative power of emotion displays and indicate that status judgments can be informed as much (and often more) by automatic responses to nonverbal expressions of emotion as by rational, contextually bound knowledge.
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You Get a Book! Demand Spillovers, Combative Advertising, and Celebrity Endorsements
Craig Garthwaite
NBER Working Paper, March 2012
Abstract:
This paper studies the economic effects of endorsements. In the publishing sector, endorsements from the Oprah Winfrey Book Club are found to be a business stealing form of advertising that raises title level sales without increasing the market size. The endorsements decrease aggregate adult fiction sales; likely as a result of the endorsed books being more difficult than those that otherwise would have been purchased. Economically meaningful sales increases are also found for non-endorsed titles by endorsed authors. These spillover demand estimates demonstrate a broad range of benefits from advertising for firms operating in a multiproduct brand setting.
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Modeling Stadium Statue Subject Choice in U.S. Baseball and English Soccer
Chris Stride et al.
Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, March 2012
Abstract:
From an almost standing start at the beginning of the 1990s, the number of statues of U.S. baseball and English soccer heroes has risen inexorably. By 1st September 2011, 33 soccer players and 67 Major League Baseball (MLB) players were, or were soon to be, depicted by existing or commissioned subject specific statues inside or adjacent to the stadia they once performed in. Yet even amongst the very finest exponents of their sport, relatively few players are honored in this way.This paper investigates and compares the defining characteristics of stadium statue subjects in these two national sports. We first developed a shortlist of potential causal factors likely to influence subject selection by considering the motivations behind statue building. The MLB Hall of Fame and the English Football League "100 Legends" list were then used as samples of the best performers from each sport. Logistic regression models were built to test the effects of potential predictors for the selection of statue subjects; these included loyalty, locality, longevity, performance of the player and their team, national recognition, sympathy and the effect of nostalgia or memory (i.e., the era a player performed in).The optimal models for soccer and baseball correctly identified depiction or non-depiction for 87% and 90.6% of the respective samples, and their significant constituent effects indicated the importance of club loyalty and era. Players who played most or all of their careers at one club or franchise and those active in the 1950s and 1960s were most likely to be depicted. This latter finding in particular suggests that the role of a statue as a nostalgia/heritage marketing object impacts upon subject choice, which is thus dependent in part on the "chance" effect of birth era. Distinct characteristics of each sport, such as baseball franchise relocation and international soccer success, were also found to have a significant effect upon the probability of depiction. Predicted probabilities were calculated for players with statues who were not Football League "Legends" or MLB Hall of Famers; these confirm the viability of the model outside of the elite performers it was constructed upon.
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The effect of social networking websites on positive self-views: An experimental investigation
Brittany Gentile et al.
Computers in Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Millions of people use social networking sites (SNSs), but it is unclear how these sites shape personality traits and identity. In Experiment 1, college students were randomly assigned to either edit their MySpace page or complete a control task online (interacting with Google Maps). Those who focused on their MySpace page scored significantly higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) than a control group. In Experiment 2, those who focused on their Facebook page scored significantly higher in general self-esteem, but not narcissism, than a control group. Thus, spending time on SNSs profiles causes young people to endorse more positive self-views, although the specific form this takes depends on the site. Consistent with previous research, narcissism was associated with a larger number of SNSs "friends" in both experiments.
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Michael Hadani et al.
Journal of Organizational Behavior, July 2012, Pages 723-739
Abstract:
The impact of universalistic versus particularistic criteria on academic hiring has been receiving growing attention in recent years. Yet, most studies conducted on hiring norms in academy and management academy have ignored the impact of social capital, particularly structural social capital, a particularistic attribute, on occupational outcomes. This could lead to a partial if not misleading view of the sociology of hiring in management academy. We utilize a novel approach, focusing on academic departments' structural social capital in the form of network centrality (based on cumulative PhD exchange networks), and explore how this type of centrality impacts job seekers' occupational prestige for new academic jobs in management departments and early career quality publications. We find that although merit-based criteria such as publications matter somewhat, academic network centrality explains significant variance in obtaining prestigious jobs. Paradoxically, we find that academic network centrality does not explain early career publications. We discuss the implications of our findings for management science.
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Change in Academic Coauthorship, 1953-2003
Timothy O'Brien
Science, Technology & Human Values, May 2012, Pages 210-234
Abstract:
Coauthored scholarship increased substantially across fields of science during the twentieth century, but it is unclear whether this growth reflects change in the behavior of individual scientists (i.e., career aging) or publishing differences between cohorts of researchers (i.e., cohort succession). I examine the publication records of an interdisciplinary sample of university scientists and find evidence of both career-aging and cohort-succession processes, although cohort differences are much more pronounced than individual changes. Specifically, scientists in this sample increased the percentage of their articles with coauthors by 0.63 percentage points annually. However, compared to those who received their PhDs between 1953 and 1962, scientists who entered the workforce between 1983 and 1991 coauthored approximately one third more of their early career articles (35.63 percentage points). Additionally, career-aging processes in coauthorship varied by PhD cohort, with earlier trained researchers increasing more rapidly. Overall, this article highlights cohort succession as a source of change in coauthorship, and underscores the importance of accounting for generational differences in studies of scientific careers.