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

Kai Zhao, Mary O'Mahony, Amir Qamar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
173 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalApplied Economics
Volume52
Issue number29
Early online date3 Jan 2020
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 3 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Europe
  • ICT
  • creative class
  • human capital
  • regional economic development

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