If we plan to collect the talent and ingenuity of the next generation, we must help them succeed from an early age. A comprehensive understanding of how to nurture the creativity and talent of young people could lead to its presence in adulthood, as talent creates opportunities for human development and fulfilment. The media is a powerful industry for constructing, influencing, and ma...

What is talent? How can it be identified? Who is responsible for identifying it? Are there universally valued talents, or are they all culturally bound? There are at least three different levels of analysis to explore these questions. On the government level, we must philosophically decide on how our country chooses and expresses its values through what is taught, to whom, and for what periods ...

Economists hold an annual talent search in which students from around the world apply to doctoral programs and economics departments. Top economics PhD programs seek candidates with the preparation, aptitude, drive, and creativity to become academic professionals whose research will advance the frontiers of the discipline. Admission committee members must judge students’ potential economic tale...

We analyze ways in which heterogeneity in responsiveness to incentives (“drive”) affects employees’ incentives and firms’ incentive systems in a career concerns model. On the one hand, because more driven agents work harder in response to existing incentives than less driven ones—and therefore pay is increasing in perceived drive—there is a motive to increase effort to signal high drive. These ...