Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/235343 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8973
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Creativity is often highly concentrated in time and space, and across different domains. What explains the formation and decay of clusters of creativity? We match data on notable individuals born in Europe between the XIth and the XIXth century with historical city data. The production and attraction of creative talent is associated with city institutions that protected economic and political freedoms and promoted local autonomy. Instead, indicators of local economic conditions such as city size and real wages, do not predict creative clusters. We also show that famous creatives are spatially concentrated and clustered across disciplines, that their spatial mobility has remained stable over the centuries, and that creative clusters are persistent but less than population.
Subjects: 
innovation
agglomeration
political institutions
immigration
gravity
human capital
JEL: 
R10
O10
J61
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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