Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/236452 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14421
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Success in life increasingly depends on key skills that allow people to thrive in education, the labor market, and their interactions with others. In this paper, we emphasize creativity as a key skill that is essential to open-ended problem solving and resistant to automation. We use rich longitudinal data to study the relationship between people's creativity measured in childhood and their individual attributes and life outcomes. We find that childhood creativity predicts labor market and educational success: more creative individuals earn more during the course of their careers, work in higher occupational categories, and reach higher levels of educational attainment. Our analysis of attributes further suggests that creative individuals have a package of practical skills that allows them to thrive in work environments where learning from experience is important. We combine insights from our findings with evidence from psychology to propose creativity-improving interventions that could lead to substantial economic benefits.
Subjects: 
creativity
skills
life outcomes
children
longitudinal
labor market
wages
earnings
occupational category
educational attainment
practical skills
experience
cognitive ability
human capital
JEL: 
D91
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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