Dependence of the Q-Factor on Exogenous Conditions

Determine how the Q-factor in the Q-model depends on exogenous factors such as education and institutional affiliation.

Background

The paper interprets its stable person-specific factor as positional advantage rather than intrinsic ability, because observed success may reflect education, institutional affiliation, visibility, and other contextual conditions. It notes that the Q-model is mathematically unchanged whether Q represents ability or exogenous characteristics such as education and institution.

The unresolved issue is whether and how those exogenous factors determine the measured Q-factor. Resolving it would help distinguish stable individual capacity from structural or positional advantage.

References

Yet, there are three reasons why the stable factor introduced in the $Q$-model should not be read as an individual's ability'' orquality''. First, \citet{sinatra2016} themselves note that the dependence of $Q$ on exogenous factors such as education and institution remains unknown, and that the model is mathematically unchanged if $Q$ reflects them.

— Chance, Persistent Advantage, and the Generative-AI Era in Open-Source Package Careers  (2609.09687 - Ibrahim et al., 9 Sep 2026) in Section 2, Related Work, subsection “Success in creative careers”