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Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gross, DP
Published in: The Review of Economics and Statistics
June 2020

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 the implementation of competitive procurement mechanisms for innovation.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

The Review of Economics and Statistics

DOI

EISSN

1530-9142

ISSN

0034-6535

Publication Date

June 2020

Volume

102

Issue

3

Start / End Page

583 / 599

Publisher

MIT Press - Journals

Related Subject Headings

  • Economics
  • 3802 Econometrics
  • 3801 Applied economics
  • 3502 Banking, finance and investment
  • 1403 Econometrics
  • 1402 Applied Economics
 

Citation

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Gross, D. P. (2020). Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(3), 583–599. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00831
Gross, Daniel P. “Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 102, no. 3 (June 2020): 583–99. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00831.
Gross DP. Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production. The Review of Economics and Statistics. 2020 Jun;102(3):583–99.
Gross, Daniel P. “Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production.” The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 102, no. 3, MIT Press - Journals, June 2020, pp. 583–99. Crossref, doi:10.1162/rest_a_00831.
Gross DP. Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production. The Review of Economics and Statistics. MIT Press - Journals; 2020 Jun;102(3):583–599.
Journal cover image

Published In

The Review of Economics and Statistics

DOI

EISSN

1530-9142

ISSN

0034-6535

Publication Date

June 2020

Volume

102

Issue

3

Start / End Page

583 / 599

Publisher

MIT Press - Journals

Related Subject Headings

  • Economics
  • 3802 Econometrics
  • 3801 Applied economics
  • 3502 Banking, finance and investment
  • 1403 Econometrics
  • 1402 Applied Economics