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GENETIC, CULTURAL, AND HISTORICAL DETERMINANTS OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2021

Erkan Gören
Erkan Gören*
Affiliation:
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
*
Address correspondence to: Erkan Gören, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, School of Computing Science, Business Administration, Economics, and Law (Faculty II), Institute of Economics, Building A5, 26111Oldenburg, Germany. e-mail: erkan.goeren@uni-oldenburg.de. Phone: +49 441 798 4292.
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Abstract

Knowledge creation has been a pivotal ingredient of endogenous growth theory to understand differences in standards of living across countries. Yet, the identification of key drivers explaining cross-country differences in knowledge creation still remains a topic of central interest in this research field. In this paper, I provide a framework to hypothesize and empirically test the persistent effects of novelty-seeking traits on cross-country differences in scientific knowledge creation. The results suggest a positive and statistically significant relationship between both outcomes that is consistent with the hypothesis that the prevalence of novelty-seeking traits in society facilitates scientific knowledge creation through beneficial human behaviors related to risk-taking and explorative behavior. The empirical findings remain qualitatively unaffected when controlling for additional historical, biogeographical, and socioeconomic factors that appear as additional important determinants in the creation of scientific knowledge in society.

Keywords

Novelty-Seeking TraitsCreative DestructionEndogenous GrowthKnowledge Creation
Type
Articles
Information
Macroeconomic Dynamics , Volume 26 , Issue 7 , October 2022 , pp. 1833 - 1890
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2021

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Footnotes

I thank the Editor, William A. Barnett, an Associate Editor, and a anonymous Referee for their helpful comments and suggestions that substantially improved the paper. I would also like to thank Jürgen Bitzer, Andreas Lichter, and the session participants at the Annual Conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik (VfS) 2018, University of Freiburg (im Breisgau) for useful comments and suggestions. All remaining errors are my own.

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