When studying the problem of the emergence of superstars, scholars face great difficulties in measuring talent, obtaining confidential data on earnings, and finding econometric techniques that lead to results that are robust to the presence of outliers (superstars). In this paper we use an...

Exploiting a natural experiment for New York City restaurants we analyze whether consumers’ quality perception is influenced by newly appearing expert opinion. As the leading restaurant guide Zagat has rated New York City’s restaurants since 1979 by drawing on consumer surveys. In 2005, with...

When studying the problem of the emergence of superstars, scholars face great difficulties in measuring talent, obtaining confidential data on earnings, and finding econometric techniques that lead to results that are robust to the presence of outliers (superstars). In this paper we use an...

In this paper, we study if the leading French gastronomic guidebook, the “<italic>Guide Rouge Michelin</italic>,” only rates the quality of food, as it claims, or if it also considers environmental variables when attributing stars. We then check how Michelin ratings affect the market, and more specifically,...

How do individuals, goods or services (e.g. researchers) through their own reputation give birth to a group's reputation (e.g. a laboratory) and conversely how do they take advantage of this group's reputation. Do they contribute to (derive benefit from) the group's reputation proportionally to...