Harmonious Relations: Quality transmission among composers in the very long run

Maria Marchenko, Karol Jan Borowiecki, Nicholas Martin Ford

Publication: Working/Discussion PaperWU Working Paper

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Abstract

Most creatives acquire professional talents by learning from others, but in most settings it is difficult to estimate the existence of long-term effects. This paper explores the transmission of skills over a period of more than seven centuries by focusing on the case of music composers. We ask the question: how does a composer’s quality influence the quality of the composers he or she teaches? Our analysis builds on a unique dataset of 17,433 composers from around the world since the fourteenth century. By comparing actual teacher–student pairs with plausible counterfactual pairs and by using a two-stage framework, we show a strong effect of quality transmission. Moreover, we find quality transmission persists across multiple generations: from teacher to student, and subsequently to student’s student and so on. Our results provide new insights on drivers of creativity over the very long term, as well as the influence of teachers on students' achievements.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationVienna
PublisherWU Vienna University of Economics and Business
Number of pages46
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2022

Publication series

SeriesDepartment of Economics Working Paper Series
Number321

WU Working Paper Series

  • Department of Economics Working Paper Series

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