Allocation of talent in society and its effect on economic development

Several studies in psychology and economics have demonstrated that the average cognitive ability (talent) of people living in a society affects the economic development of the society. There is, however, reason to expect that the economic development of societies depends not just on the average level of talent but also on the allocation of talent in society — societies that allocate people with different talents more efficiently should be more successful in economic terms. Efficient allocation of talent means that people with higher ability do jobs of higher complexity. The present paper constructed several measures of allocation of talent and analyzed their effect on the economic growth rate of countries and U.S. states. Overall, the analyses support the idea that the countries and states that have a better allocation of talent exhibit higher levels of economic growth.

•In theory, the efficient allocation of people’s talents should benefit the economy.•That is, people with higher ability should do jobs of higher complexity.•Results show that societies with better allocation experience more economic growth.