Discovering and nurturing individuals with high potential to excel in STEM fields is critical to scientific progress, innovation, and growth. To showcase and promote research on economic aspects of this process, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) will convene a hybrid conference on the economics of talent, with presenters in-person in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday, November 15, 2024. The conference, which will feature seven research presentations, will be co-organized by Ruchir Agarwal (Harvard Kennedy School), Glenn Ellison (MIT and NBER), and Patrick Gaule (University of Bristol).
Research topics that may be examined at the conference include, but are not limited to:
* How to identify at an early stage individuals with potential to excel in STEM (“talent”)
* Measuring the effectiveness of interventions to nurture talent
* Participation, persistence and excellence in high-school STEM competitions
* The role of high-talent individuals in contributing to science and innovation
* The interplay between talent and human capital accumulation
* Migration patterns of talented individuals and the factors that affect them
* How talented individuals are allocated across different sectors of the economy
* Barriers that may prevent talented individuals from realizing their potential
Original research papers and overview papers that offer a research agenda will both be considered for presentation. The organizers welcome empirical and theoretical research, as well as submissions by scholars who are early in their careers, are not NBER affiliates, and are members of groups that are under-represented in the economics profession. In keeping with NBER protocols, papers may not make policy recommendations
To be considered for inclusion on the program, upload papers or extended abstracts no later than 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.
Please pass this call for papers on to colleagues who might be interested in submitting research. Please do not submit papers that have been accepted for publication and that will be published by November 2024. Authors chosen to present papers will be notified by early October 2024. All co-authors will be invited to participate in the conference; the NBER will reimburse the hotel and travel costs for up to two.
Questions about the submission process or conference planning may be addressed to confer@nber.org; questions about subject matter may be addressed to patrick.gaule@bristol.ac.uk.