Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?

IMF Working Papers, December 7, 2018

Source details

Canonical URL

Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?

Other formats

• Markdown version
• Structured JSON version
• Bundle manifest

Bibliographic details

• Authors: Ruchir Agarwal, Patrick Gaulé
• Published: December 7, 2018
• Series: IMF Working Papers
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484385869.001

Summary

• The advancement of the knowledge frontier is crucial for technological innovation and human progress.
• Using novel data from the setting of mathematics, the paper establishes two main results:
  • 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.
  • Such talented individuals born in low- or middle-income countries are systematically less likely to become knowledge producers.
• The 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.

Key Findings

• Exceptional teenage talent predicts an irreplaceable lifetime capacity to create new ideas.
• Talented individuals born in low- or middle-income countries are systematically less likely to become knowledge producers.
• The research setting and data are drawn from mathematics (novel data from the setting of mathematics).

Policy Implications and Recommendations

• Encourage exceptionally-talented youth to pursue scientific careers to accelerate the knowledge frontier.
• Prioritize policies targeting talented youth from low- or middle-income countries to reduce systematic barriers to becoming knowledge producers.

Subjects and Keywords

• Subject: Commodities, Education, Gold, National accounts, Personal income, Silver, Tax incentives
• Keywords: Eastern Europe, Global, Gold, IMO, IMO medalist, IMO participant, IMO performance, IMO score, innovation, knowledge frontier, knowledge production, Personal income, Silver, talent, universities, WP

IMF Working Paper: "Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?", Ruchir Agarwal and Patrick Gaulé, December 7, 2018.

Content in this bundle

• Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?, WP/18/268, December 2018
  • Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?, WP/18/268, December 2018 (Markdown version)
  • Invisible Geniuses: Could the Knowledge Frontier Advance Faster?, WP/18/268, December 2018 (PDF)