Superstar Effects

Superstar effects are those that give rise to exceptional compensation to those at the top of their fields. Superstar effects are often observed in the [Page 1547]incomes of the highest-paid stars in sports, pop music, film, and financial services and in the ­earnings of star chief executive officers (CEOs). For example, Forbes reports that the basketball superstar Kobe Bryant’s $30.5 million salary for the 2013–14 season was $7 million more than that of any other player in the National Basketball Association that season. Superstar effects are of particular relevance to current social issues such as the increasing globalization of markets, structural changes in economies due to advances in information technology and Internet technologies, and the increasing importance of online commerce and new media, and they ...