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J Cult Econ (2008) 32:167185
DOI 10.1007/s10824-008-9066-y
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Jason Potts Stuart Cunningham John Hartley Paul Ormerod
Received: 23 May 2007 / Accepted: 20 May 2008 / Published online: 17 June 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2008
Abstract We propose a new denition of the creative industries in terms of social network markets. The extant denition of the creative industries is based on an industrial classication that proceeds in terms of the creative nature of inputs and the intellectual property nature of outputs. We propose, instead, a new market-based denition in terms of the extent to which both demand and supply operate in complex social networks. We review and critique the standard creative industries denitions and explain why we believe a market-based social network denition offers analytic advance. We discuss some empirical, analytic and policy implications of this new denition.
Keywords Social networks Creative industries Innovation systems
1 Dening the creative industries
The concept of creative industries has been a feature of academic and policy literature for over a decade. During this time, the standard denitionin terms of creative inputs and intellectual property outputshas not much changed from its initial DCMS (1998) conception, which was an extension of the cultural industries
J. Potts (&) S. Cunningham J. Hartley
CCI, Queensland University of Technology, 515, Z1, Musk Ave., Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Australiae-mail: [email protected]
J. Potts
School of Economics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
P. Ormerod
Volterra Ltd, London, UK
Social network markets: a new denition of the creative industries
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denition to incorporate the copyright industries.1 This denition was implicitly accepted by, for example, Caves (2000) in his transaction-cost-based analysis of the microeconomics of the creative industries. The creative industries are regularly dened in terms of an industrial classication of what they do, what they produce, and how they do it. Although there have been many grumbles and even dismissive critique of the details of the classicationstoo narrow, too broad, too inconsistent with extant classication, arbitrary and even opportunistic2the broad notion that an industrial classication should proceed on industrial lines is seemingly on rm foundation: for agriculture, biotech and service industries are similarly dened. The creative industries are thus implicitly dened and classied according to industrial sectors.
This article will...