Economics of Talent Q&A

What exactly is “the economics of talent,” and how is it different from studies of education or growth economics?

Focus on Exceptional Problem-Solvers: The Economics of Talent (EoT) focuses on individuals who show very high potential, which we define as an exceptional ability to solve complex problems during their late teenage years. EoT studies how to identify these students in their mid-to-late teenage years; nurture them through high school, university, and beyond; and empower them to use their talents to maximally benefit the economy and society.
Distinct from Regular Education Research and Workforce Economics: Rather than broad-based schooling issues (e.g., teacher quality for all students), the economics of talent emphasizes the “far right tail”—the top fraction of a percent who can have a hugely disproportionate impact on the economy. EoT explores the implications for society and innovation when such talent is either nurtured or neglected.
Advancing the Knowledge Frontier: Research shows that these exceptionally talented kids have an outsized impact on innovation, whether that’s creating OpenAI (three of its six cofounders were teen Olympiad medalists) or driving breakthroughs in science and technology. They can develop new cures, revolutionize AI or quantum computing, start huge companies or create new product categories, or win a Nobel Prize or Fields Medal in math.

How do you define talent? What are the key characteristics of a brilliant mind or talented individual?

We define talent as the capacity to solve novel problems efficiently in a person’s late teenage years. Talent is shaped by both innate abilities and accumulated learning. It shows up in how quickly people grasp math or science, how naturally they engage with challenges, how creatively they apply knowledge to unfamiliar situations, and how they persevere until they reach solutions.

How do you identify talent?

Olympiad medalists: Medaling at a high-level international math or science competition, like the International Mathematical Olympiad, is the best predictor we have of who will advance the knowledge frontier.
Ongoing search: At GTF, we are very keen to find other predictors and are actively searching for them. In particular, we are looking at areas like skill at chess and experience performing research while in high school.
Example: Even Einstein himself was almost not discovered – he initially failed his university entrance exam. We must always continue seeking new ways to discover talent.

How do you nurture talent?

Early Identification and Support: Identify talented individuals early, in their teenage years or before, and provide targeted training and resources.
Structured Coaching and Mentorship: Provide quality coaching from well-trained mentors or trainers. High quality training for coaches is essential.
Financial Support and Opportunities: Ensure talented individuals have access to competitions, educational institutions, and opportunities regardless of their economic background. Examples include sponsoring participation in regional and international Olympiads, and supporting attendance at prestigious universities.
Community: Bring talented students together through math and science camps, in addition to competitions. This creates a sense of community that can help students stay engaged through middle and high school and build their confidence in applying to top global universities.
Specialized Programs and Pathways: Initiatives like IMPA’s undergraduate mathematics program in Brazil and Colombia's National Math Olympiad actively provide clear educational pathways specifically tailored to nurture identified talents.
Regional and Gender-focused Competitions: Promote competitions such as the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad, International Zhautykov Olympiad (Central Asia), and Pan American Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad, to ensure broader representation and participation, especially among underrepresented groups.
What’s next? We are studying the effectiveness of advanced online and book-based courses for promising students with no access to highly qualified teachers locally.

How do you empower talent once it is identified and nurtured?

Bring brilliant minds together: Studies have shown that researchers in elite clusters, such as in Boston, Cambridge, and San Francisco produce more citations and co-author more groundbreaking work. Research can lead to inventions and product development. Clusters like Silicon Valley demonstrate how concentration of talent correlates with faster innovation cycles, higher firm productivity, and more rapid scaling of startups.
Foster “brain circulation” and talent networks: As our co-founders wrote in a Finance & Development magazine cover story, “[M]igration policies that promote brain circulation can help both sending and receiving countries. Bright students who move abroad often reach greater heights, but home countries worry about losing their best minds. In rich countries, concerns about immigration can make it harder for foreign talent to secure visas. However, people who study and train abroad and later return to their region of origin—or stay connected through global networks—are essential to spreading ideas and technology across borders. They start businesses that draw in foreign investment, create jobs, and provide essential services at home. Activating that two-way flow requires flexible policies and institutions that encourage the movement of knowledge and allow people to travel freely back and forth.”
Isolation can reduce productivity: GTF research shows that IMO medalists from low-income countries are less likely to produce influential research, perhaps because they lack access to top universities, or more generally to institutional support and global networks. These findings suggest that even strong natural ability isn’t enough if a young person faces financial and geographic barriers.
Example: Srinivasa Ramanujan, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, worked in isolation with little formal training until age 26. But after connecting with a university math community, his ideas took flight. As our co-founders wrote, Ramanujan’s partnership with renowned mathematician G.F. Hardy at Cambridge “transformed mathematics and laid the foundation for breakthroughs in fields like cryptography and computer science, and even in the understanding of black holes.”

By focusing on these aspects, empowerment translates talent identification and nurturing into real-world outcomes, benefiting individuals, countries, and society as a whole.

Why should anyone care about this special group of “top 0.1%” students?

Huge Global Payoff: When their talent is developed, they often go on to found companies, invent technologies, or make scientific discoveries that benefit everyone.
Inequality of Opportunity: A gifted 16-year-old in an under-resourced country or region may never be “discovered” and funded to go to university. The world loses out on a potential Einstein simply because there wasn’t a local scouting mechanism set up to spot such talent.
Raising the Floor and the Ceiling: General education is extremely important because it builds a foundation for everyone to achieve. But there’s also massive value in “raising the ceiling” so those who can jump the highest can reach their fullest potential.

But doesn’t focusing on super-smart teens just worsen inequality?

We’re Targeting Opportunity Gaps: Often, these exceptionally bright kids are from low-income families. If we don’t invest in them, we’re allowing those opportunity gaps to widen.
Between-Country Disparities: Plenty of brilliant teens in developing nations get bypassed because advanced programs are less available. In practice, opening more pathways for these high-potential students reduces global inequality—helping, for instance, a teen in rural Peru or Mongolia access world-class training.
Benefits for Everyone: When a handful of these students push the frontiers of AI or biomedical research, entire societies gain—regardless of borders. New medicines and technologies like AI will best serve all people when they are developed by people who understand the full breadth of humanity’s challenges in every part of the world.

How do we spot “hidden Einsteins” in remote or underserved areas?

Math & Science Olympiads: Competitions like local or regional Olympiads are a powerful, low-cost funnel to find standout students. For instance:
Brazil’s OBMEP (Olimpíada Brasileira de Matemática das Escolas Públicas): Reaches over 20 million students in nearly all public schools, spotting kids like the future Harvard grad and rising political leader Tabata Amaral.
Pan-American Girls’ Math Olympiad: An emerging contest specifically for young women in Latin America; it might have disappeared without targeted funding. Now it thrives and inspires more girls to pursue advanced math.
Specialized High Schools: Places like Georgia’s “Komarovi” School or specialized public schools in Singapore offer rigorous tracks that reveal extraordinary talent early.
Local Outreach: In the Philippines and Colombia, dedicated teams travel far beyond capital cities—sometimes by boat into remote areas—to administer Olympiad exams.

Aren’t these specialized programs or scholarships extremely expensive?

Surprisingly High Return on a Small Investment: Sometimes, all that’s needed are travel stipends to attend competitions, or a small grant for coaching materials. Running a national Olympiad and junior regional Olympiads is far cheaper than sweeping nationwide reforms. Even modest financial support or a few scholarships to study abroad can be transformational.
Example–BIG Scholars: Through the “Backing Ingenuity for Growth” (BIG) Scholarship, co-funded by GTF and top universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, and Imperial, more than 20 Olympiad medallists, mostly from middle- and low-income countries, were funded to attend these prestigious institutions starting in the 2024-2025 school year. And the number of full-need scholarships is on pace to roughly double for the class starting in fall 2025. The number of scholarships is relatively small, but the innovation potential over the course of their careers is enormous.

What about the “brain drain”? Do students have to go to rich countries to develop their talent?

South-to-South Pathways: Brazil’s IMPA (the “Cathedral of Mathematics” in Latin America) is launching an undergraduate program to attract top math talents regionally. A brilliant teenager from Paraguay or Peru can now train at a leading institution in Latin America rather than going overseas.
Building the Pipeline: For years, IMPA has taken star undergrads directly into advanced master’s or Ph.D. programs if they show exceptional promise through Olympiads. Now, with a formal undergrad offering, the pipeline is even clearer.
“Brain Circulation”: Those who study abroad often return home to help their Olympiad teams in the following years, sharing the knowledge they’ve gained. Countries that sponsor study abroad expect their students to return and contribute.
Regional Collaboration: By building up recognized math/science hubs in developing nations, we expand opportunities and reduce the “brain drain” effect.

What do governments do—beyond funding Olympiads or big scholarships?

National Scholarships: Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand have long provided undergrad scholarships for their top students to study at elite universities abroad with an understanding they’ll bring their expertise home. This cost is a tiny fraction of national education budgets.
Hosting International Competitions: Countries can volunteer to hold regional Olympiads (the Ibero-American Math Olympiad or European Girls’ Math Olympiad, for instance). Hosting increases local interest, earns media coverage, and leads to extra training support for coaches and students.
Raise Awareness & Build Partnerships: Governments that actively promote math and science events spark interest among students, parents, educators, and business sponsors, creating a virtuous cycle of talent discovery.

How can businesses support the economics of talent?

Internships & Real-World Challenges: Companies can invite high-potential teens (not just college grads) to brief but intense internships or problem-solving labs—mirroring how tech giants actively recruit teen Olympiad medalists.
Sponsor Competitions & Coaching: Rather than only supporting sports, businesses can fund national or regional science/math contests. This puts their brand at the heart of innovation and future workforce development.
Go Beyond Finance & AI: While industries like AI have recognized the value of Olympiad-level thinkers, other fields (e.g., climate solutions, biotech) can also tap this talent. Innovation is needed everywhere.

But won’t these students just follow the biggest paycheck (say, in finance) after graduation?

Not All Are Money-Driven: Many come from modest backgrounds and have strong motivations to tackle real-world issues—like designing better infrastructure for rural communities or advancing healthcare technologies.
Giving Back: Graduates who get big paychecks abroad boost the economy where they live, and give back to the country they came from through remittances or philanthropy.
For instance: A student who spent time among nomadic herders is free to study mechanical engineering and work to solve challenges facing them—because her scholarship enables her to follow her passion, not just the highest salary.

What’s the ultimate takeaway from all this?

Spot Talent Early: Math and science Olympiads are a proven, cost-effective way to identify brilliant teens across geographic and socioeconomic lines.
Nurture That Talent: Targeted coaching, specialized schools, and scholarships (like BIG Scholars) help develop students’ potential.
Scale Globally: Whether we talk about Peru, the Philippines, or Brazil’s remote Amazon areas, small investments can uncover extraordinary kids who might transform AI, lead in climate solutions, or create new economic opportunities.
Shared Benefit: Every time we support a hidden genius—regardless of nationality or gender—the knowledge frontier is pushed forward for everyone.
New Perspectives = New Approaches: Developing talented people from non-traditional backgrounds yields new perspectives on the challenges facing their communities and how to solve them.

For more information:

F&D Magazine Publishes Full Issue on the Economics of Talent
BBC: "What Is the 'Economics of Talent' That Seeks to Find the New Einsteins and Marie Curies of the World?"

updated June 2025