The Age-Productivity Gradient : Evidence from a Sample of F1 Drivers

Estimating the effect of aging on productivity is a daunting task. First, it requires clean measures of productivity. Second, unobserved heterogeneity at the worker, firm and worker/firm level challenges the identification of the age-productivity gradient in cross-sectional data. Third, in longitudinal data the study of the age-productivity link requires to partial out the role of experience and to account for selection bias. We tackle these issues by focusing on a panel of Gran Prix Formula One drivers and show that the age-productivity link has an inverted U-shape profile, with a peak at around the age of 30-32