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Broker beauty and boon: a study of physical attractiveness and its effect on real estate brokers’ income and productivity

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  • Sean P. Salter
  • Franklin G. Mixon
  • Ernest W. King

Abstract

This study examines beauty and its effect on real estate agents’ wages. We develop a model of beauty and real estate agent wages, performing empirical tests of the theory. We apply Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) methodology to a combined data set that includes multiple listing service data and a unique survey designed to measure individual agents’ beauty or attractiveness; the analysis takes two forms: transaction-level analysis and agent-level analysis. Results suggest that beauty augments more attractive agents’ wages and that more attractive agents use beauty to supplement classic production-related characteristics such as effort, intelligence and organizational skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Sean P. Salter & Franklin G. Mixon & Ernest W. King, 2012. "Broker beauty and boon: a study of physical attractiveness and its effect on real estate brokers’ income and productivity," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(10), pages 811-825, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apfiec:v:22:y:2012:i:10:p:811-825
    DOI: 10.1080/09603107.2011.627211
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jason Beck & Yassaman Saadatmand, 2024. "The impact of real estate agent and firm characteristics on sales prices under different market conditions and price segments," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 59(1), pages 31-38, January.
    2. Jay L Zagorsky, 2016. "Are Blondes Really Dumb?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(1), pages 401-410.
    3. Steven B. Caudill & Franklin G. Mixon, 2020. "Estimating Bargaining Power in Real Estate Pricing Models: Conceptual and Empirical Issues," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-8, May.
    4. Popov, Alexander, 2022. "The division of spoils in a booming industry," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 341-369.
    5. Aaron Arndt & David M. Harrison & Mark A. Lane & Michael J. Seiler & Vicky L. Seiler, 2017. "Real Estate Agent Target Marketing: Are Buyers Drawn Towards Particular Real Estate Agents?," Journal of Housing Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 39-52, January.
    6. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2020. "Beauty perks: Physical appearance, earnings, and fringe benefits," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    7. Kseniya Bortnikova, 2020. "Beauty and Productivity: A Meta-Analysis," Working Papers IES 2020/18, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Jun 2020.
    8. Franklin G. Mixon & Steven B. Caudill, 2013. "Campus competition and co-ed allure: An institution-level analysis of collegiate dating markets," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 442-453.
    9. Hengel, E., 2017. "Publishing while Female. Are women held to higher standards? Evidence from peer review," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1753, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.

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