Appearance Discrimination in Grading? - Evidence from Migrant Schools in China

Using appearance scores created by facial-recognition and machine-learning programs that incorporate tens of thousands of individuals' appearance preferences, we find in China's migrant schools that students' appearance has a statistically significant and positive effect on their teachers' evaluation of their exam performance, even after netting out the influences of important confounders such as physical growth, cognitive ability, mental health status, family background, and school quality. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.