The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth
研究人才在创业与寻租之间的职业选择如何影响经济增长，发现当寻租回报高于创业时，人才倾向于寻租，导致经济停滞；跨国证据表明，工程专业学生比例高的国家增长更快，法律专业学生比例高的国家增长更慢。
A country's most talented people typically organize production by others, so they can spread their ability advantage over a larger scale. When they start firms, they innovate and foster growth, but when they become rent seekers, they only redistribute wealth and reduce growth. Occupational choice depends on returns to ability and to scale in each sector, on market size, and on compensation contracts. In most countries, rent seeking rewards talent more than entrepreneurship does, leading to stagnation. Our evidence shows that countries with a higher proportion of engineering college majors grow faster; whereas countries with a higher proportion of law concentrators grow slower.