Is there any evidence that linking to external quality, reputable and popular websites helps with ranking (directly or indirectly)? Is there an established correlation? Some posts on the web do claim it, but without providing any evidence.

It is known that if your website links to bad neighborhood, this will harm your reputation and authority, but does the reverse actually help? And, does it matter if the website is young or old in this case?

Update

I have found this Moz video revealing there is a 0.04 correlation with ranking.