How Are You, My Dearest Mozart? Well-Being and Creativity of Three Famous Composers Based on Their Letters

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Borowiecki, Karol Jan
• 署名单位: University of Southern Denmark
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00616
• 发表日期: 2017-10
• 页码: 591-605
• 关键词: mental-illness; modern-art; LIFE; genius; DEPRESSION; disorders; migration; happiness; emotions; patterns

摘要

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.