Hipsters vs. Geeks? Creative workers, STEM and innovation in US cities

Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés and Neil Lee
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

No 14560, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Innovation in cities is increasingly regarded as an outcome of two potential inputs: scientific activity and creativity. Recent research using firm level data has suggested that actually it might be the combination of these two inputs, rather than the mere presence of workers representing each group, which matters. Yet there is little evidence on whether this relationship holds using city level data in the case of the United States (US). This paper investigates this gap in our knowledge by examining how the combination of STEM (geeks) and creative workers (hipsters) in a panel of 290 US Metropolitan Statistical Areas during the period between 2005 and 2015 relates to city level innovation. The results indicate that, although the presence of STEM workers is a more important driver of innovation than that of creative ones, the most innovative cities are characterised by a combination of the two. Hence, current policies which tend to focus mainly on either STEM or creativity may be better targeted at ensuring interactions between the two.

Keywords: Creativity; Creative class; Stem; Innovation; Cities; United states (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O18 O32 O33 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-ino, nep-sbm, nep-tid and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Working Paper: Hipsters vs. Geeks? Creative workers, STEM and innovation in US cities (2020)
Working Paper: Hipsters vs. geeks? Creative workers, STEM and innovation in US cities (2020)
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