Bridging the gap in creative economy and ICT research: a regional analysis in Europe

TY - JOUR

T1 - Bridging the gap in creative economy and ICT research

T2 - a regional analysis in Europe

AU - Zhao, Kai

AU - O’Mahony, Mary

AU - Qamar, Amir

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/6/20

Y1 - 2020/6/20

N2 - Following Florida’s seminal work on the ‘creative class’ there is a great deal of interest concerning whether creativity, as an input, is important for regional growth. Answering this question requires developing a production framework that can distinguish creativity from other inputs. With data from Europe, this paper integrates the concept of information and communications technology (ICT) and the creative class into a theoretical production function. Findings reveal that not only is there a positive and interactive relationship between creative workers and ICT, but the combination of creative workers and ICT leads to higher levels of GVA growth. Moreover, creative workers were found to have a larger impact on growth in comparison with traditional human capital measures (i.e. graduates). Thus, findings from this research suggest that the creative class should not only pay attention to socio-economic preferences of individuals, but it must include wider social resources, such as ICT.

AB - Following Florida’s seminal work on the ‘creative class’ there is a great deal of interest concerning whether creativity, as an input, is important for regional growth. Answering this question requires developing a production framework that can distinguish creativity from other inputs. With data from Europe, this paper integrates the concept of information and communications technology (ICT) and the creative class into a theoretical production function. Findings reveal that not only is there a positive and interactive relationship between creative workers and ICT, but the combination of creative workers and ICT leads to higher levels of GVA growth. Moreover, creative workers were found to have a larger impact on growth in comparison with traditional human capital measures (i.e. graduates). Thus, findings from this research suggest that the creative class should not only pay attention to socio-economic preferences of individuals, but it must include wider social resources, such as ICT.

KW - Creative Class

KW - Europe

KW - Human Capital

KW - ICT

KW - Regional Economic Development

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078629518&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/00036846.2019.1706718

DO - 10.1080/00036846.2019.1706718

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85078629518

SN - 0003-6846

VL - 52

SP - 3153

EP - 3166

JO - Applied Economics

JF - Applied Economics

IS - 29

ER -