IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/sdueko/2019_011.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Origins of Creativity: The Case of the Arts in the United States since 1850

Author

Listed:

Abstract

This research illuminates the historical development of creative activity in the United States. Census data is used to identify creative occupations (i.e., artists, musicians, authors, actors) and data on prominent creatives, as listed in a comprehensive biographical compendium. The analysis first sheds light on the socio-economic background of creative people and how it has changed since 1850. The results indicate that the proportion of female creatives is relatively high, time constraints can be a hindrance for taking up a creative occupation, racial inequality is present and tends to change only slowly, and access to financial resources within a family facilitates the uptake of an artistic occupation. Second, the study systematically documents and quantifies the geography of creative clusters in the United States and explains how these have evolved over time and across creative domains. Third, it investigates the importance of outstanding talent in a discipline for the local growth of an artistic cluster.

Suggested Citation

  • Borowiecki, Karol Jan, 2019. "The Origins of Creativity: The Case of the Arts in the United States since 1850," Discussion Papers on Economics 11/2019, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2019_011
    Note: A previous version was published as No. 3/2019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sdu.dk/-/media/files/om_sdu/institutter/ivoe/disc_papers/disc_2019/dpbe11_2019.pdf?la=da&hash=FEFD829FC0C9975F37424AF0655006DD00032619
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Etro, Federico & Pagani, Laura, 2012. "The Market for Paintings in Italy During the Seventeenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 423-447, May.
    2. Graddy, Kathryn, 2013. "Taste Endures! The Rankings of Roger de Piles (†1709) and Three Centuries of Art Prices," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(3), pages 766-791, September.
    3. Olivier Gergaud & Morgane Laouenan & Etienne Wasmer, 2016. "A Brief History of Human Time : Exploring a database of “notable people”," SciencePo Working papers hal-03393214, HAL.
    4. David de la Croix & Omar Licandro, 2015. "The longevity of famous people from Hammurabi to Einstein," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 263-303, September.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5d103cq61k9ia98gs3070ptoqk is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy, 2008. "Determining heterogeneous behavior for theater attendance," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 32(2), pages 127-151, June.
    7. Claudia Goldin, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women's Employment, Education, and Family," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 1-21, May.
    8. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/h4tv2ee028raq0ib4dabsqqei is not listed on IDEAS
    9. V.A. Ginsburgh & D. Throsby (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1, December.
    10. Goldin, Claudia, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women’s Employment, Education, and Family," Scholarly Articles 2943933, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    11. Victor Ginsburgh & David Throsby, 2006. "Handbook of the economics of art and culture," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/1673, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Maloney, William F. & Valencia Caicedo, Felipe, 2014. "Engineers, Innovative Capacity and Development in the Americas," IZA Discussion Papers 8271, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Oliver Falck & Michael Fritsch & Stephan Heblich & Anne Otto, 2018. "Music in the air: estimating the social return to cultural amenities," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 365-391, August.
    14. Thierry Burger-Helmchen, 2013. "The Economics of Creativity," Post-Print hal-02189772, HAL.
    15. Gerben Bakker, 2005. "The decline and fall of the European film industry: sunk costs, market size, and market structure, 1890–1927," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 58(2), pages 310-351, May.
    16. Hellmanzik, Christiane, 2010. "Location matters: Estimating cluster premiums for prominent modern artists," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 199-218, February.
    17. David W. Galenson, 2007. "Introduction to Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity," Introductory Chapters, in: Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity, Princeton University Press.
    18. Heilbrun,James & Gray,Charles M., 2001. "The Economics of Art and Culture," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521637121.
    19. Michael Pokorny & John Sedgwick, 2010. "Profitability trends in Hollywood, 1929 to 1999: somebody must know something1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(1), pages 56-84, February.
    20. Borowiecki, Karol Jan, 2013. "Geographic clustering and productivity: An instrumental variable approach for classical composers," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 94-110.
    21. Mitchell, Sara, 2019. "London calling? Agglomeration economies in literature since 1700," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 16-32.
    22. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/h4tv2ee028raq0ib4dabsqqei is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Ruth Towse, 2010. "Creativity, Copyright and the Creative Industries Paradigm," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 461-478, August.
    24. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-858, December.
    25. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5c980irgqp83k83vpo1e7r0l74 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Fairlie, Robert, 2015. "The Kauffman Index: Startup Activity | National Trends," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt5cb198rq, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Borowiecki, Karol Jan & Dahl, Christian Møller, 2021. "What makes an artist? The evolution and clustering of creative activity in the US since 1850," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Borowiecki, Karol Jan & Graddy, Kathryn, 2021. "Immigrant artists: Enrichment or displacement?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 785-797.
    3. Michel Serafinelli & Guido Tabellini, 2022. "Creativity over time and space," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-43, March.
    4. Hellmanzik, Christiane, 2016. "Historic art exhibitions and modern - day auction results," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 421-430.
    5. Anne-Sophie Radermecker & Koenraad Brosens, 2023. "Valuing European tapestry: from riches to rags," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/371370, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Francisco Alcalá & Miguel González‐Maestre, 2012. "Artistic Creation and Intellectual Property: A Professional Career Approach," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 633-672, September.
    7. Rubinstein Alexander, 2013. "Studying “Sponsored Goods” in Cultural Sector. Econometric Model of Baumol’s Disease," Creative and Knowledge Society, Sciendo, vol. 3(1), pages 28-48, July.
    8. Victor Ginsburgh, 2013. "Mark Blaug and the economics of the arts," Chapters, in: Marcel Boumans & Matthias Klaes (ed.), Mark Blaug: Rebel with Many Causes, chapter 15, pages 208-224, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Popovic, Milenko, 2009. "Dynamic Models of Arts Labor Supply," MPRA Paper 19397, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Chun‐Yu Ho & Yue Sheng, 2022. "Productivity advantage of large cities for creative industries," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(6), pages 1289-1306, December.
    11. Luiz Carlos Santana Ribeiro & Thiago Henrique Carneiro Rios Lopes & Amir Borges Ferreira Neto & Fernanda Rodrigues Santos, 2020. "Cultural employment growth in Brazilian municipalities," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(4), pages 605-624, December.
    12. Etro, Federico, 2024. "Art and Markets in the Greco-Roman World," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(2), pages 432-478, June.
    13. Thom, Marco, 2016. "Fine artists' entrepreneurial business environment," Working Papers 06/16, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    14. John O’Hagan & Alan Walsh, 2017. "Historical Migration and Geographic Clustering of Prominent Western Philosophers," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 11-32, April.
    15. Karol Jan Borowiecki, 2015. "Historical origins of cultural supply in Italy," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(3), pages 781-805.
    16. Hofmann, Julian & Clement, Michel & Völckner, Franziska & Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten, 2017. "Empirical generalizations on the impact of stars on the economic success of movies," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 442-461.
    17. Patrick Georges & Aylin Seçkin, 2013. "Black notes and white noise: a hedonic approach to auction prices of classical music manuscripts," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 37(1), pages 33-60, February.
    18. Karol Jan Borowiecki & Caterina Adelaide Mauri, 2024. "Originality, influence, and success: a model of creative style," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 48(2), pages 221-258, June.
    19. Lukas Kuld & Sara Mitchell & Christiane Hellmanzik, 2021. "Manhattan Transfer: Productivity effects of agglomeration in American authorship," Trinity Economics Papers tep0821, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    20. Christiane Hellmanzik, 2009. "Artistic styles: revisiting the analysis of modern artists’ careers," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 33(3), pages 201-232, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Creativity; artists; geographic clustering; agglomeration economies; urban history;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2019_011. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Astrid Holm Nielsen (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/okioudk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.