Briggs: Young Einsteins are falling through the cracks. We need more mentors.

When technology companies ask for tax breaks, state and city officials might want to start asking a simple question: What are you going to do to help us find the next Einstein?

The U.S. economy is missing out on massive amounts of innovation because children are not getting equal access to programs and resources that would allow them to develop their skills, according to a study published this month. The paper examines "lost Einsteins," a term that refers to "individuals who do not pursue a career in innovation even though they would have had highly impactful innovations had they done so."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most children who grow up to become inventors are boys from white, affluent households, according to the study, which is authored by Alex Bell of Harvard University, Raj Chetty of Stanford University, Xavier Jaravel of the London School of Economics, Neviana Petkova of the Office of Tax Analysis and John Van Reenan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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"Children born to parents in the top 1 percent of the income distribution are 10 times as likely to become inventors as those born to families with below-median income," the study says. "Whites are more than three times as likely to become inventors as blacks. And 82 percent of 40-year-old inventors today are men."

The authors explain that people who become successful inventors generally benefited from "exposure to innovation during childhood."

"A lack of exposure to innovation can help explain why high-ability children in low-income families, minorities, and women are significantly less likely to become inventors," the study says. "Importantly, such lack of exposure screens out not just marginal inventors but the 'Einsteins' who produce innovations that have the greatest impacts on society."

The disparity in opportunities available to children is taking a stunning toll — not only on individuals who fail to realize their potential, but also on the economy.

The authors "estimate that white men from high-income families are 4.06 times as likely to patent as the average person in the population. Hence, if women, minorities, and children from low-income families were to invent at the same rate as white men from high-income families, the rate of innovation in the economy would quadruple (emphasis added)."

Other writers, including The New York Times' David Leonhardt and Vox's Matthew Yglesias, have explained the broad public policy implications of this study (spoiler: We can't tax-cut our way out of an innovation gap). But, if there's a community-level takeaway, it might be this: We need more mentors.

Schools are not well equipped to compensate for opportunities children miss out on because of the towns and homes in which they grow up. Children need more than math and science classes. They need inspiration that can only come from interacting with people who already are successful.

Central Indiana happens to be in the midst of what many people consider to be a tech boom. Indianapolis and its suburbs have a fast-growing base of companies filled with super-smart people who are doing amazing things. The collective talent in those companies could make an immediate dent in the local innovation gap.

Tech companies, of course, should consider participating in and creating mentorship programs for young people because it's a good thing for them to do. But economic development officials also can encourage these companies to mentor young people by evaluating such participation among the factors that are weighed as part of requests for tax incentives.

When a big or fast-growing tech company moves in or expands, government officials usually tout the job creation and real estate value (future property taxes) it will bring. They shouldn't ignore the potential for these companies to cultivate the next generation of innovators.

"Policies to increase exposure to innovation could range from mentoring by current inventors to internship programs at local companies," the study says. "In particular, targeting exposure programs to women, minorities, and children from low-income families who excel in math and science at early ages is likely to maximize their impacts on innovation."

Companies such as Salesforce are moving in the right direction. Salesforce earlier this year announced an apprentice program targeting college campuses in Indiana. But even a program like that might miss many bright students who've drifted off of a college-bound path.

The innovation study is sobering because it quantifies the extent to which young Americans never get a fair chance to achieve everything they are capable of. Yet, it also provides hope because it points to a remarkably simple solution.

A surge in mentorship would go a long way toward changing lives and improving communities. Governments and companies should do everything they can to urge talented workers to connect with promising young students.

Call IndyStar business columnist James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.