Submission Date

4-27-2009

Document Type

Paper

Department

Business & Economics

Adviser

Jennifer VanGilder

Committee Member

Heather O'Neill

Committee Member

Tina Wailgum

Committee Member

Andrew Economopoulos

Department Chair

Andrew Economopoulos

Project Description

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a phrase that exemplifies the subjectivity of attractiveness. In recent years, researchers in the fields of economics, sociology, and anaplasty have used symmetry analysis in an attempt to make beauty an objective issue. People characterized by greater facial symmetry, as defined by exhibiting balanced lateral proportions, are considered to be more attractive. Furthermore, labor economists, such as Hamermesh and Biddle (1994), suggest a wage premium for more attractive individuals, however, the measure of attractiveness was not based on symmetry. This study examines the effect of NFL quarterbacks' attractiveness on their salaries, holding productivity constant. One may hypothesize that the general manager of a NFL team would benefit by hiring a more attractive quarterback, ceteris paribus. This benefit could be seen through the creation of a bandwagon effect to sell more tickets and team paraphernalia thus increasing profits. Increasing attention in the literature is being paid to the effects of beauty in the labor market. This study seeks to utilize productivity measures of NFL quarterbacks in conjunction with their attractiveness ratings to predict the true impact of beauty.

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