The Importance of Creative Industry Agglomerations in Explaining the Wealth of European Regions

Abstract

This paper examines the existence of regional agglomerations of manufacturing, service and creative industries, the relationship between these industries and the wealth of regions and their industrial structure. Through an analysis of 250 European regions, three important conclusions can be inferred from the results obtained in this paper. The first is that creative industries play an important role in the wealth of a region. The second is that the most creative regions are characterized by having more high-tech manufacturing industries than the rest of the regions although the number of low-tech manufacturing firms is similar. Lastly, the industrial structure of each region has a greater influence on regional wealth than the existence of industrial agglomerations. The importance of this paper resides in the fact that up until now no analysis has demonstrated that creative industries are the most important industries in regional wealth.

The Economic Impact of the Creative Industry in the European Union

“…Another way is the use of econometric models, which have been used to assess the impact of the creative industries in the economy of a single country (Rausell et al 2011;Lee 2014) or in the regions of the EU (De-Miguel-Molina et al 2012;Marco et al 2014;Boix et al 2013; Boix and Soler 2017; Boix and Peiró 2017) (see Table 2).…”

Creative Industries and Regional Productivity Growth in the Developing Economy: Evidence from Indonesia

“…According to those conceptual arguments (e.g., the growth model), it is actually assumed that the number of creative industries is sufficiently large, so that these industries can deliver economic impacts (Potts and Cunningham 2008). Spillover effects of creative industries are shown since these industries are agglomerated (see de-Miguel-Molina et al 2012;Hong et al 2014;Rosenthal and Strange 2003). In order to form a cluster or concentration, the number of these industries needs to be sufficiently large, so there will be enough competitors as well as combinations of different ideas needed for innovation.…”

“…Potts and Cunningham (2008) describe that creative industries could theoretically deliver either positive, negative, or neutral impacts on economic growth. A number of empirical contributions show that creative industries deliver positive effects on regional economic development (e.g., Baum, O'Connor, and Yigitcanlar 2009;Boix-Domenech, De-Miguel-Molina, and Hervas-Oliver 2013;de-Miguel-Molina et al 2012;Hong et al 2014;Lee 2014;Marco-Serrano, Rausell-Koster, and Abeledo-Sanchis 2014;Piergiovanni, Carree, and Santarelli 2012). Creative industries potentially increase the regional capacity to generate new ideas, resulting in innovation that enhances regional productivity (Boix-Domenech and Soler-Marco 2015).…”

In search of a Mediterranean creativity. Cultural and creative industries in Italy, Spain and Turkey

“…Power (2011) analyses the geographical distribution of CCIs in Europe at the NUTS2 level, focusing on the impact of this sector on growth and development. De-Miguel-Molina et al (2012) investigate the importance of the CCI cluster in explaining the wealth of European regions, while Boix et al (2013) study the creative service business in Europe and its interrelationships with regional performances.…”