Creative Careers: The Life Cycles of Nobel Laureates in Economics / Bruce A. Weinberg, David W. Galenson.

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Weinberg, Bruce A

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Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w11799.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2005.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

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Abstract: This paper studies life cycle creativity among Nobel laureate economists. We identify two distinct life cycles of scholarly creativity. Experimental innovators work inductively, accumulating knowledge from experience. Conceptual innovators work deductively, applying abstract principles. We find that conceptual innovators do their most important work earlier in their careers than experimental laureates. For instance, our estimates imply that the probability that the most conceptual laureate publishes his single best work peaks at age 25 compared to the mid-50s for the most experimental laureate. Thus while experience benefits experimental innovators, newness to a field benefits conceptual innovators.

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Previous	nber w11796 From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes /	nber w11797 Motivations for Public Equity Offers: An International Perspective /	nber w11798 Foreign Subsidization and Excess Capacity /	nber w11799 Creative Careers: The Life Cycles of Nobel Laureates in Economics /	nber w1180 An Investigation of Risk and Return in Forward Foreign Exchange /	nber w11800 The Industry Origins of Japanese Economic Growth /	nber w11801 Information Technology and the Japanese Economy /	Next

November 2005.

This paper studies life cycle creativity among Nobel laureate economists. We identify two distinct life cycles of scholarly creativity. Experimental innovators work inductively, accumulating knowledge from experience. Conceptual innovators work deductively, applying abstract principles. We find that conceptual innovators do their most important work earlier in their careers than experimental laureates. For instance, our estimates imply that the probability that the most conceptual laureate publishes his single best work peaks at age 25 compared to the mid-50s for the most experimental laureate. Thus while experience benefits experimental innovators, newness to a field benefits conceptual innovators.