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Career Lotto: Labor Supply in Winner-Take-All Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Grove, Wayne A.

    (Le Moyne College)

  • Jetter, Michael

    (University of Western Australia)

  • Papps, Kerry L.

    (University of Bradford)

Abstract

Are people prone to selecting occupations with highly skewed income distributions despite minuscule chances of success? Assembling a comprehensive pool of potential teenage entrants into professional tennis (a typical winner-take-all market), we construct objective measures of relative ability and earnings projections. We find that prospective tennis professionals are attracted to right-skewed earnings distributions, independent of mean and variance. If skewness in prize money fell to zero, males would be 23% and females 5% less likely to continue pursuing a professional career, on average. Thus, winner-take-all labor markets appear to systematically encourage those with modest talents to pursue long-shot careers.

Suggested Citation

  • Grove, Wayne A. & Jetter, Michael & Papps, Kerry L., 2018. "Career Lotto: Labor Supply in Winner-Take-All Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 12012, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12012
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    3. Thieme, Lutz & Falk, Rüdiger, 2021. "Zur Entwicklung von Vergütungssystemen in deutschen Großsportvereinen," Working Papers of the European Institute for Socioeconomics 35, European Institute for Socioeconomics (EIS), Saarbrücken.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    winner-take-all markets; superstar markets; labor supply; human capital; gender differences; skewness preferences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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