Does Competition Kill? The Case of Classical Composers

We investigate the impact of peer competition on longevity using a unique historical data set of classical composers. We measure the geographic concentration of peers by the number of composers located in the same area and the time spent in one of the main geographic clusters for classical music. Using instrumental variables, we find a significant negative effect of geographic concentration. An additional composer based in the same location decreases longevity by 2.3 years, on average. Besides the widely known economic benefits associated with competition, these findings suggest that significant negative welfare externalities exist as well.