The Beauty Premium in the Academic World: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

A majority of studies on the beauty premium of college professors have been conducted in Western countries, mainly in the United States and Canada. The present paper focuses on the influence of professors\u27 physical attractiveness on their teaching ratings awarded by three ethno-cultural student populations (native Israelis, FSU immigrants, and Ethiopian immigrants) at a large public college in Israel. We asked the participants to look at photographs of attractive professors (rated in a previous study) and rate the quality of their teaching, based solely on the photographs. It was found that both female and male professors were awarded a beauty premium by all three groups. Our findings confirm results of previous studies in USA and Germany, which suggested that the beauty premium exists across diverse ethnic groups. Our conclusions are based mainly on findings that were obtained from Christian or Jewish subjects. A more comprehensive examination could include additional cultures and religions, such as Moslem or Buddhist participants. Therefore, we would welcome collaboration with colleagues who are interested in examining this phenomenon in their own countries. Our conclusion may have practical implications when evaluating employees\u27 performance in the globalized multicultural workforce in general, and in intercultural academic settings in particular

Differential Willingness to Pay for Kidney Transplantation From Living and Deceased Donors: Empirical Study Among End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) Patients

Kidney transplantation has developed to the stage where it is currently the most cost-effective treatment for patients suffering from end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and, when available, offers them the highest quality of life. Yet, kidney transplantation is challenged by cultural and traditional beliefs; thus, this study sought to evaluate the willingness to pay for a kidney transplant in a culturally sensitive population. A self-administered survey was completed by 734 end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients. A quantitative method and survey design were chosen and employed descriptive, correlational, nonparametric, and multivariate statistical tests. Participants were willing to pay a mean amount of $40 751.36 for a living donor kidney transplant, whereas the mean is considerably lower,$18 350.51, for a deceased donor kidney. Significant predictors of the willingness to pay (WTP) for a kidney transplant from a living donor and a deceased donor were found, among them: religiosity and ethnicity. The participants’ willingness to pay for a kidney transplant could attest to significant benefits in enhancing patient well-being. The willingness to pay differentially for a donation from a deceased or a living donor stems from the higher chances of success with a living-donor organ as well as from moral and religious motives. In Israel kidney transplantation is not tradable in the free market and is fully funded by the state. The average cost of kidney transplantation in Israel is $61 714.50. Since the cost exceeds the utility and since the economic literature suggests that the funding of healthcare interventions should be provided up to the point where the costs of that funding equal the benefits that society derives from it, crucial revisions in public health policy should be made. Education may have a significant impact on the approach to kidney donation and organ donation in general