Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production

Daniel Gross

No 25057, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Though fundamental to innovation and essential to many industries and occupations, individual creativity has received limited attention as an economic behavior and has historically proven difficult to study. This paper studies the incentive effects of competition on individuals' creative production. Using a sample of commercial logo design competitions, and a novel, content-based measure of originality, I find that intensifying competition induces agents to produce original, untested ideas over tweaking their earlier work, but heavy competition drives them to stop investing altogether. The results yield lessons for the management of creative workers and for the implementation of competitive procurement mechanisms for innovation.

JEL-codes: D81 M52 M55 O31 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-cul, nep-ino, nep-lma and nep-neu
Note: LS PR
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Daniel P. Gross, 2020. "Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production," The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol 102(3), pages 583-599.

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Journal Article: Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production (2020)
Working Paper: Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production (2018)
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