TY - JOUR T1 - Prizes and Productivity JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour SP - 728 LP - 758 DO - 10.3368/jhr.50.3.728 VL - 50 IS - 3 AU - George J. Borjas AU - Kirk B. Doran Y1 - 2015/07/01 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/50/3/728.abstract N2 - Knowledge generation is key to economic growth, and scientific prizes are designed to encourage it. But how does winning a prestigious prize affect future output? We compare the productivity of Fields Medal recipients (winners of the top mathematics prize) to that of similarly brilliant contenders. The two groups have similar publication rates until the award year, after which the winners’ productivity declines. The medalists begin to “play the field,” studying unfamiliar topics at the expense of writing papers. It appears that tournaments can have large postprize effects on the effort allocation of knowledge producers. ER -