And the Award Goes too... External Status as a Driver of Cumulative Advantage

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Authors

Contini, Molly

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University of Guelph

Abstract

Awards are prevalent in almost every area of society and yield a number of material and immaterial benefits. This research aims to extend our understanding of the effect of immaterial benefits associated with receiving an award on long-term future employee career outcomes. Drawing upon the Mathew Effect, I examine if status gain as a result of winning an award is associated with career outcomes (i.e., opportunities and productivity) irrespective of productivity levels prior to receiving the designation. This work used professional sports data to address potential confounds that may account for career differences (e.g., talent, ability) between award winners and non-winners. Overall, my results indicated some evidence for the Mathew Effect hypothesis. Specifically, award winners were found to receive more opportunities than nonwinners, however, winners were not found to be more productive than non-winners.

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Keywords

the Mathew Effect, Cumulative Advantage, Awards, Productivity, Opportunity

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