How Are You, My Dearest Mozart? Well-Being and Creativity of Three Famous Composers Based on Their Letters
The Review of Economics and Statistics
2017
open access
The importance of creativity is being increasingly recognized by economists; however, the possibility that emotional factors determine creative processes is largely ignored. Building on 1,400 letters written by three famous music composers, I obtain well-being indices that span their lifetimes. The validity of this methodology is shown by linking the indices with biographical information and through estimation of the determinants of well-being. I then exploit the data and provide quantitative evidence on the existence of a causal impact of negative emotions on outstanding creativity, an association hypothesized across several disciplines since the antiquity that has not yet been convincingly established.
- DOI
- 10.1162/rest_a_00616
- Volume
- 99 (4)
- Pages
- 591-605
- Language
- en
- Export
- BibTeX
- Sources
- openalex crossref