TY  - JOUR
AU  - Conti,Gabriella
AU  - Galeotti,Andrea
AU  - Mueller,Gerrit
AU  - Pudney,Stephen
TI  - Popularity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 18475
PY  - 2012
Y2  - October 2012
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18475
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18475.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Gabriella Conti
Harris School of Public Policy
University of Chicago
1155 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/702-7052
E-Mail: gconti@uchicago.edu

Andrea Galeotti
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park, Colchester
Essex CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom
E-Mail: agaleo@essex.ac.uk

Gerrit Mueller
Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
Regensburger Str. 104
90478 Nuremberg
Germany  
Tel: +49 911 / 179 2726
E-Mail: gerrit.mueller@iab.de

Stephen Pudney
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park, Colchester
Essex CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom
E-Mail: spudney@essex.ac.uk
AB  - What makes you popular at school? And 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. We develop an econometric model of friendship formation and labor market outcomes allowing for partial observation of networks, and provide 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% wage premium nearly 40 years later.
ER  -