The term ingenuity or applied ideas is used in the analysis of Thomas Homer-Dixon, building on that of Richard Romer , to refer to what is usually called instructional capital. Ingenuity is often inherent in creative individuals, and thus is considered hard to separate from individual capital. It is not clear if Dixon or Romer considered it impossible to do so, or if they were simply not familiar with the prior analysis of "applied ideas", "intellectual capital", "talent", or "innovation" where instructional and individual contributions have been carefully separated, by economic theorists.

See also: ingenuity gap , instructional capital, Diffusion of innovations