Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?

Ruchir Agarwal and Patrick Gaulé

CERGE-EI Working Papers from The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague

Abstract: The advancement of the knowledge frontier is crucial for technological innovation and human progress. Using novel data from the setting of mathematics, this paper establishes two results. First, we document that individuals who demonstrate exceptional talent in their teenage years have an irreplaceable ability to create new ideas over their lifetime, suggesting that talent is a central ingredient in the production of knowledge. Second, such talented individuals born in low- or middle-incomecountries are systematically less likely to become knowledge producers. Our findings suggest that policies to encourage exceptionally-talented youth to pursue scientific careers–especially those from lower income countries–could accelerate the advancement of the knowledge frontier.

Date: 2018-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-ino
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster? (2020)
Working Paper: Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster? (2018)
Working Paper: Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster? (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cer:papers:wp634

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