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Robert Merton's (1968a, 1988) articulation of the Matthew effect in science is one of the key concepts that led to theoretical developments related to cumulative advantage and disadvantage. The idea that early advantage can be leveraged for greater gain has since received conceptual development and empirical support in research on a variety of topics ranging from school-tracking systems to age heterogeneity. Merton's focus was how advantage accumulates, parallel to what is considered a tournament-mobility model: early success provides opportunities for rapid career advancement. Advantage for some, however, often means disadvantage for others. Indeed, this is part of the metaphor of the Matthew effect: accumulating benefits for those already advantaged but accumulating loss for those who are disadvantaged early. The concepts of cumulative advantage and disadvantage are useful for sociological inquiry …