RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Popularity
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1072
OP 1094
DO 10.3368/jhr.48.4.1072
VO 48
IS 4
A1 Gabriella Conti
A1 Andrea Galeotti
A1 Gerrit Müller
A1 Stephen Pudney
YR 2013
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/48/4/1072.abstract
AB What makes you popular at school? What are the labor market returns to popularity? We investigate these questions using an objective measure of popularity derived from sociometric theory: the number of friendship nominations received from schoolmates, interpreted as a measure of early accumulation of personal social capital. Our econometric model of friendship formation and labor market outcomes allows for partial observation of networks, and provides new evidence on the impact of early family environment on popularity. We estimate that moving from the 20th to 80th percentile of the high school popularity distribution yields a 10 percent wage premium 40 years later.