Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful

Daniel Hamermesh concentrates his attention on the economics of one's beauty, especially the impact of looks on earnings. This tour of horizon is ultimately unsatisfactory due to the weaknesses of the data set used, especially in Parts I and II of the book under review. This observation is counterintuitive due to the abundance of research that Mr. Hamermesh mentions in his notes. The data used is often either too old and/or limited to assess the exact extent of the undeniable effects of beauty on economics. For example, the author relies on data from the 1970s to calculate the percentage impacts of looks on earnings in the U.S. (pp. 45; 49). Other examples include the impact of better-looking CEOs (pp. 97; 99) or the extremely sparse case law in the jurisdictions that ban discrimination based on looks (p. 156). To his credit, Mr. Hamermesh acknowledges the limitations of these studies. Furthermore, some topics addressed in the book under review have not been the subject of any systematic study. Think for example about the impact of beauty during a recession or the impact of employees' beauty in boosting sales for a profit-making organization (pp. 50; 90). In summary, the evidence provided is too often piecemeal to accurately estimate the undeniable impact of beauty on economics.

Beauty Pays is an extraordinary book that tells the Ugly truth about looks. Better looks equal an easier time in the world no matter where you go. People generally like to be around beautiful people, which may be a reason why some with good looks have the nastiest attitudes. I do not think the world should cater to self identified beauty whether true or false. From an economic standpoint beauty and attractiveness are well explained and reiterated several times over. It is another form of discrimination, but it just doesn't have enough political muscle behind it to stand. Nice writing Mr. Hamermesh!!

I love Hamermesh's economic analysis of beauty but I did wish that he would have looked more at how race plays into what is seen as beautiful in society. It was mentioned briefly.

I bought this book partly out of interest and partly because it related to a paper I was writing for grad school. It was reasonably interesting - scholarly rather than popular - but nothing to be bowled over by. Probably best for students researching a related topic rather than the casual reader.

Beautiful girls deserve more attention and than their less beautiful competition although they may be less intelligent..

I got this for an essay I was writing in school, and it actually wasn't as boring as I expected. It's pretty interesting.

This book is written like a research paper. The facts are interesting, but it's a little dry and wordy. Wish I had found a better book.

Beauty Pays is an easy to read and yet scholarly book about the role and results of good looks in the world. It may not be palatable to know the prejudice that exists in our culture, but it is important to hear the truth.

This is a brilliant book!!! Unlike many books that exist on the impact of beauty and beauty perceptions this book is a very balanced and well-researched. It is very balanced. There are many books that are just either pop-sociology, advocating a feminist or mysoginist point of view which have minimal evidence presented to support the writer's position or because it can be a controversial area much beloved by tabloid journalists they just written to cause controversy and debate in the public arena and so help raise the profile of the writer.

No esta mal. Esperaba algo mejor, en mi opinión solo repite una y otra vez que la gente guapa gana más dinero..si que es verdad que se basa en varios estudios pero para mi no es suficiente..

The book proposes to discuses the impact of beauty through a economic perspective. It offers some raw insights and, though parts of the research might be questionable (such as the use of 1970's data on American population wages vs. beauty measurement grades), the book is consistent throughout all of its chapters. The only valid criticism you might hear about this book is, then, that it does not offer surprises or groundbreaking insights on the theme - that is, if you just read a review of it, you probably won't miss lots of important stuff.

Ein neuer, interessanter Blickwinkel. Allerdings haetten 30 Seiten genügt, was darüber hinausgeht, tritt die Grundidee in die Breite.Aber die Verfaechter einer Gleichbehandlung auf Teufel-komm-raus werden ihre höllische Freude haben: Es gibt keine Gleichbehandlung bezüglich Aussehens!

Molto bene . Volevo a tutti costi la versione in Inglese , ottimo servizio.Ottimo pure il servizio di spedizione