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The Economics of Creativity

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Pierre-Michel Menger
Collge de France
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 The Economics of Creativity
Art and Achievement under Uncertainty
Pierre-Michel Menger

A skilled researcher and profound theoretician, Menger identifies the key

social processes underlying the problematic notion of creativity. This book is a
penetrating synthesis of economic theory and sociology of the arts that opens up
new research territory for years to come.
Howard Becker, author of Art Worlds

The Economics of Creativity is exceptionally researched and among the best

books on the subject of artists and their labor markets.
Jens Beckert, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

Creative work has been celebrated as the highest form of achieve-

cloth $49.95 ment since at least Aristotle. But our understanding of the dynamics
ISBN 9780674724563 and market for creative workartistic work in particularoften relies
416 pages on unexamined clichs about individual genius, industrial engineering
of talent, and the fickleness of fashion. Pierre-Michel Menger ap-
proaches the subject with new rigor, drawing on sociology, econom-
ics, and philosophy to build on the central insight that, unlike the work
most of us do most of the time, creative work is governed by uncer-
tainty. Without uncertainty, neither self-realization nor creative inno-
vation is possible. And without techniques for managing uncertainty,
neither careers nor profitable ventures would surface.

In the absence of clear paths to success, an oversupply of artists and

artworks generates boundless differentiation and competition. How
can artists, customers, entrepreneurs, and critics judge merit? Menger
disputes the notion that artistic success depends solely on good con-
nections or influential managers and patrons. Talent matters. But the
disparity between superstardom and obscurity may hinge initially on
minor gaps in intrinsic ability. The benefits of early promise in com-
petition and the tendency of elite professionals to team up with one
another amplify and disproportionately reward even small differences.

Menger applies his temporal and causal analysis of behavior under

uncertainty to the careers and oeuvres of Beethoven and Rodin. The
result is a thought-provoking book that brings clarity to our under-
standing of a world widely seen as either irrational or so free of stan-
dards that only power and manipulation count.

Pierre-Michel Menger is Professor of Sociology at the Collge de France and

the cole des Hautes tudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

H A RVA R D U N I V E RS I T Y P R E SS www.hup.harvard.edu email: customer.care@triliteral.org tel: (800) 405-1619

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