From Daniel Stewart’s paper:
…Markets are constrained by processes of status differentiation which Merton (1968) called the “Matthew Effect”. According to this principle, high status actors obtain greater recognition for performing a given task then do low status actors….

The term is derived from the New Testament Book of Matthew (25:29), which states, “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will taken from Him.”