Teaching to the Top and Searching for Superstars

In a two-period model that nests two forms of production, "routine" work where ability and eort are substitutes and "creative" work where they are complements, alternative ways of improving average ability have opposite implications for agents' career concerns. While teaching to the top (training complementary to ability) or identifying star performers increases agents' reputational concerns, teaching to the bottom has the opposite eect. The paper also makes more general comments relating to models of reputation.