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Big-up yourself! The Return to Self-Promotion

Author

Listed:
  • Mavisakalyan, Astghik
  • Palmer, Michael
  • Salazar, Silvia

Abstract

Self-promotion plays a significant role in both the labor market and society; however, its prevalence and effects remain difficult to quantify. This paper leverages the unique setting of professional surfing to examine the causal impact of self-promotion-proxied by the act of "claiming" a wave-on performance outcomes. Utilizing data from over 5,500 waves in the World Surf League and employing an instrumental variables approach, we find that self-promotion provides substantial benefits, increasing wave scores by approximately 0.8 standard deviations, or 1.6 points out of a maximum score of 10. Notably, female surfers are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to engage in self-promotional behaviors, as reflected by a lower ferquency of claiming, yet they receive comparable benefits when they do claim. These findings offer valuable insights into the rewards of self-promotion in competitive, high-stakes environments and underscore the potential for women to improve outcomes by more frequently adopting such behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Palmer, Michael & Salazar, Silvia, 2025. "Big-up yourself! The Return to Self-Promotion," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1561, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1561
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alice Soldà & Marie Claire Villeval, 2025. "Narratives as a Persuasion Tool in Performance Appraisals," Working Papers 2505, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.

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    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z22 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Labor Issues

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