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Success of Celebrities: Talent, Intelligence or Beauty?

Author

Listed:
  • Olivier Gergaud

    (BEM - Bordeaux Management School and University of Reims)

  • Victor Ginsburgh

    (ECARES, Brussels and CORE, Louvain-la-Neuve)

  • Florine Livat

    (BEM - Bordeaux Management School)

Abstract

We analyze the Celebrity 100 annual list of the world's most “powerful celebrities” compiled and published by Forbes Magazine. The lists provide an interesting collection of people, that includes their earnings, and the perception of citizens concerning the attributes that made them become celebrities. We analyze the relationship between their earnings and the perceptions on their intelligence, talent, beauty and other attributes, and show that though beauty plays a role, intelligence and talent are more important.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Gergaud & Victor Ginsburgh & Florine Livat, 2012. "Success of Celebrities: Talent, Intelligence or Beauty?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(4), pages 3120-3127.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00415
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Price, Michael K., 2008. "Fund-raising success and a solicitor's beauty capital: Do blondes raise more funds?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 351-354, September.
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    3. Pfann, Gerard A. & Biddle, Jeff E. & Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Bosman, Ciska M., 2000. "Business success and businesses' beauty capital," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 201-207, May.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jay L Zagorsky, 2016. "Are Blondes Really Dumb?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(1), pages 401-410.
    2. Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Leigh, Andrew K., 2022. "“Beauty too rich for use”: Billionaires’ assets and attractiveness," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Gaenssle, Sophia & Budzinski, Oliver, 2019. "Stars in social media: New light through old windows?," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 123, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    4. Budzinski, Oliver & Kohlschreiber, Marie & Kuchinke, Björn & Pannicke, Julia, 2019. "Does music quality matter for audience voters in a music contest?," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 122, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Earnings; economic success; talent;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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