Common wisdom suggests that beauty helps in the labor market. We show that two factors combine to explain away the mean beauty premium reported in the literature. First, correcting for publication bias reduces the premium by at least a third. Second, controlling for cognitive ability negates the...

A meta-analysis is a tool for aggregating estimates of a similar "effect" across many studies. Publication bias is the phenomenon where literature is sample selected in favor of studies having statistically significant results and/or having estimates that satisfy pre-conceived expectations. A...