Regional competitiveness and high growth firms in the EU: the creativity premium

Abstract

The finding that the economic performance of regions is driven by a small set of productive firms calls for a granular analysis of regional competitiveness. Among the productive firms, a significant contribution is made by so-called High-Growth Firms (HGFs), which also account for the bulk of new jobs created in the region. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between regional competitiveness and HGFs by examining which pillars of regional competitiveness stimulate the development of HGFs. The determinants that stand out relate to the quality of business-supporting institutions and governance of the region, agglomeration benefits, an adequate infrastructure and the availability of a highly educated workforce. More importantly, we show the premium of hosting a strong creative class in the region.

Reliability of Creative Composite Indicators with Territorial Specification in the EU

“…Even though efforts to gather and analyse cultural indicators are by no means new [21,28], there have been a number of works in recent years focusing particularly on constructing creativity and cultural activity indices, in an attempt to evidence what contribution these factors make to the economic development and sustainability of regions, as is shown, for example, through the works of Correa-Quezada et al [2] for the case of Ecuador, and Sleuwaegen and Ramboer [5] for Europe. This line of work has also been boosted by the standardisation and proliferation of cultural statistics both at an international [29] as well as a European [30] level.…”

“…Creative potential has also triggered a new competitiveness profile for regions and cities. In this regard, see the delimitation of the concept of creative cities provided by Scott [4] and the new definition of competitive advantages for regions in Sleuwaegen and Ramboer [5]. In the academic sphere, there are two main approaches to measuring the scale of the creative economy: the sectorial or the occupational perspective.…”

“…It has yielded abundant literature to define the sector, with more or less widespread agreement concerning the UNCTAD catalogue of branches [1]. This approach has also led to a number of studies aimed at measuring the sector's dimension and the territorial impact of the creative industry, with numerous applied exercises, many of which may be found for the European Union [5,6] as well as for the rest of the world [7][8][9]. The latter, which appeared later, and which is the so-called occupational approach, is essentially based on Richard Florida's work [10] addressing the concept of the creative class, a group of professionals dedicated to activities related to more stylised cultural creation but that also embraces all of those specialising in designing and forging creative activities geared towards the market and that display a certain level of talent and skill and who tend to concentrate in specific areas that exhibit certain conditions and lifestyles [11].…”

“…There is also the stream that has given rise to numerous studies aimed at measuring the scale of the territorial agglomeration of creative classes, which is generally measured through the employment variable in creative occupations [2,12,13]. Based on the two approaches, many works have appeared that strive to develop a theoretical framework explaining the link between creativity and economic development [14,15] and to show how creativity can shape an area's competitive advantage [5,16], and which also provide ample margin to design and implement new regional policies [3,17]. In general terms, there is consensus vis-à-vis accepting the accumulation of human capital, the capacity for innovation and the current state of technology as drivers that encourage the development of creative industries and/or classes, coupled with conditions of tolerance and openness towards society, as originally posited in the works of Florida [10] but which has also been shown in other more recent studies such as Boschma and Fritsch [12] and Sleugwaegen and Ramboer [5].…”

“…Based on the two approaches, many works have appeared that strive to develop a theoretical framework explaining the link between creativity and economic development [14,15] and to show how creativity can shape an area's competitive advantage [5,16], and which also provide ample margin to design and implement new regional policies [3,17]. In general terms, there is consensus vis-à-vis accepting the accumulation of human capital, the capacity for innovation and the current state of technology as drivers that encourage the development of creative industries and/or classes, coupled with conditions of tolerance and openness towards society, as originally posited in the works of Florida [10] but which has also been shown in other more recent studies such as Boschma and Fritsch [12] and Sleugwaegen and Ramboer [5]. One aspect which is being seen as increasingly important is the pre-existence of cultural amenities and an intense level of cultural characterisation in the area in question as highlighted in the works of Cerisola [14] and Backman and Nilsson [18].…”