The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town:
In August, two Princeton economists released a study titled “Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes.” The aim of the paper, by Anne Case and Christina Paxson, was to attempt to explain why tall people generally earn more than short people. The question is not a new one. More than a hundred years ago, social scientists established the correlation between height and socioeconomic status, and they’ve been trying to solve the enigma of what has been called the “height premium” ever since. In 1915, a study found bishops to be taller than preachers and sales managers to be taller than salesmen. A 1968 paper identified peer perception as a cause of the earning discrepancy. Separate studies in 1993 and 2006 concluded that discrimination is a key factor. Case and Paxson’s work presents another explanation: On average, taller people earn more because they are smarter.
The study was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan think tank in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During the paper’s first week on the N.B.E.R.’s Web site, it was downloaded by a handful of academics and government types. The authors received e-mails from fellow-economists who sent brief accolades such as “This is great” and “Fascinating” and “I didn’t know this” and “WOW”—the resonant pings of quiet kudos in academe.
A week later, Reuters published a story on the paper under the headline “TALLER PEOPLE ARE SMARTER—STUDY.” Within days, Case and Paxson had received dozens and dozens of e-mails from outraged readers. “I have no idea if it was the fact that women had written the study, but half of the ones I got were from short men,” Case said the other day. “Some of them were actually obscene.” Most of the e-mails were hostile: “Shame on you!” scolded one man (4″ 9′). “I find your hypothesis insulting, prejudicial, inflammatory and bigoted,” said another (5″ 6′). “You have loaded a gun and pointed it at the vertically challenged man’s head” (no height given). “I want to thank you and your colleague for perpetuating the crusade against short people” (5″ 6′). “On a personal note it was very nice to be reminded that I really am a loser and will never be held in ‘high’ esteem by society” (5″ 4′). “LEAVE THIS ALONE YOU’RE NOT HELPING ANYBODY,” another read.