Essays on location patterns of creative industries

Identifier:  TDX:2769

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2769

Authors:  Coll Martínez, Eva

Abstract:
This thesis analyses and identifies which factors facilitate the location and agglomeration of creative industries at the local level and compare them to those of the other economic activities. This thesis contributes to the literature on creative industries by analysing the location behaviour of these industries both from a traditional analysis at municipality level and by introducing some innovations regarding the use of spatial econometrics, distance-based methods and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) thanks to the access to micro-geographic data. The empirical application focuses on Catalan municipalities for the period 2002-2007, on the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and on the city of Barcelona for the period 2006-2015. Main findings of this thesis show that, despite the fact that creative industries location determinants are not so different from those of non-creative industries, the specific nature of these industries and their greater need for agglomeration is confirmed, especially for symbolic-based creative industries. Moreover, this thesis confirms the positive association between creative industries and economic growth – in terms of firm creation or productivity. Finally, it also suggests that the ability to attract creative activities and employment to an area strongly depends on the existing creative milieu and the cultural path dependence of the area. Based on the assumption that creative industries have great potential in terms of, for example, economic dynamism, urban regeneration or city marketing, results of this thesis allows having a series of recommendations for public authorities willing to support the diversification of economic activity for the purpose of enhancing their competitiveness in an economic and social context increasingly global.