Collaborative Research: The Economics of Creativity

合作研究：创造力经济学

• 批准号: 0095776
• 负责人: Bruce Weinberg
• 金额: $ 12.47万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University Research Foundation -DO NOT USE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-04-01 至 2004-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0095776&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Economics; Creativity

Productivity follows a hump shape over the lifecycle. Economists have developed models of lifecycle human capital accumulation to explain this pattern the incentive to invest in human capital is greatest at young ages when the remaining career is longest. Psychologists have noted the same lifecycle pattern but have attributed it to lifecycle variations in the ability to assimilate and produce new ideas. According to this view, at first exposure to a field, individuals' thought patterns are highly flexible, but as exposure (measured by experience in an area) accumulates, existing thought patterns become reinforced making it increasingly difficulty to think in different ways. Thus, if economists attribute lifecycle variations in productivity to changes in the incentives to acquire new skills, psychologists have emphasized variations in the ability to assimilate new concepts.Building on our previous work, a pilot analysis shows that across a range of fields, creators whose work evolved through experimentation, do their most important work at older ages, but that those whose contributions were conceptual, did theirs while quite young. While the late peaks are consistent with the human capital model, it is impossible to reconcile a peak at the beginning of the career with the human capital model. For someone in their 20s or 30s, the finiteness of the career has a trivial effect on the incentive to invest in new skills. Nor does the human capital model provide a natural explanation for the striking differences between these groups.This proposal presents a new model of lifecycle productivity that draws on a declining ability to change thought patterns. According to this model, theorists' most important contributions are most common at the beginning of their careers because their work is based on quick re-conceptualizations, which are most likely before existing thought patterns have become reinforced. Empirical work (of equal importance) derives from the gradual accumulation of a body of knowledge, so the ability to re-conceptualize issues continually is less important. We will test these predictions using data collected under funding on a range of disciplines, including the sciences, arts, and business. With the increase in educational attainment and the greater reliance of science in production, the ability to innovate is becoming an increasingly important determinant of earnings relative to human capital, making this analysis timely.The ability to adapt to change affects the response to changes in work brought on by technological change. The model implies that the adoption of new technologies that require re-conceptualizations of work will be greatest among young workers, but that old workers will heavily adopt new technologies that draw on existing knowledge. A decline over the lifecycle in the ability to adapt to change represents a new form of vintage human capital effect, which we will test against traditional vintage effects using data on computer adoption. The proposed model also provides new explanations for gender differences in the occupation structure and for the occupational mobility of older workers.

生产率在整个生命周期中呈驼峰状。经济学家们开发了生命周期人力资本积累模型来解释这种模式，即在年轻时投资人力资本的激励最大，此时剩余的职业生涯最长。心理学家注意到了同样的生命周期模式，但将其归因于吸收和产生新思想的能力的生命周期差异。根据这种观点，在第一次接触某个领域时，个人的思维模式高度灵活，但随着接触（通过某个领域的经验来衡量）的积累，现有的思维模式会得到加强，从而使以不同的方式思考变得越来越困难。因此，如果经济学家将生产力的生命周期变化归因于获得新技能的动机的变化，心理学家则强调吸收新概念的能力的变化。在我们之前的工作基础上，一项试点分析表明，在一系列领域中，通过实验进行工作的创造者在年龄较大时完成了最重要的工作，但那些贡献是概念的人，在他们很小的时候就做了。虽然后期高峰与人力资本模型一致，但职业生涯初期的高峰与人力资本模型不可能一致。对于20多岁或30多岁的人来说，职业生涯的有限性对投资新技能的激励影响甚微。人力资本模型也没有为这些群体之间的显著差异提供自然的解释。这一提议提出了一种新的生命周期生产力模型，它利用了改变思维模式的能力下降。根据这个模型，理论家最重要的贡献通常是在他们职业生涯的开始，因为他们的工作是基于快速的重新概念化，这很可能是在现有的思维模式得到加强之前。经验工作（同样重要）来自知识体系的逐步积累，因此不断重新概念化问题的能力不那么重要。我们将使用在一系列学科（包括科学，艺术和商业）资助下收集的数据来测试这些预测。随着教育程度的提高和生产中对科学的依赖程度增加，创新能力正成为相对于人力资本而言收入的一个越来越重要的决定因素，这使得这一分析变得及时，适应变化的能力影响到对技术变革带来的工作变化的反应。该模型意味着，年轻工人将最多地采用需要重新概念化工作的新技术，但老年工人将大量采用利用现有知识的新技术。生命周期中适应变化能力的下降代表了一种新形式的人力资本效应，我们将使用计算机采用数据来测试传统的人力资本效应。拟议的模式还为职业结构中的性别差异和老年工人的职业流动性提供了新的解释。