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Innovation in Creative Cities: Evidence from British Small Firms

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  • Neil Lee
  • Andr�s Rodr�guez-Pose

Abstract

Creative cities are seen as important sites for the generation of new ideas, products and processes. Yet, beyond case studies of a few high-profile cities, there is little empirical evidence on the link between local creative industries concentration and innovation. This paper addresses this gap with an analysis of around 1,300 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises. The results suggest that firms in local economies with high shares of creative industries employment are significantly more likely to introduce entirely new products and processes than firms elsewhere, but not innovations which are simply new to the firm. This effect is not exclusive to creative industries firms and seems to be largely due to firms in medium-sized, rather than large, cities. The results imply that creative cities may have functional specialisations in new content creation and so firms are more innovative in them.

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  • Neil Lee & Andr�s Rodr�guez-Pose, 2014. "Innovation in Creative Cities: Evidence from British Small Firms," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(6), pages 494-512, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:21:y:2014:i:6:p:494-512
    DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2014.983748
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    2. Karol J. Borowiecki & Trilce Navarrete, 2017. "Digitization of heritage collections as indicator of innovation," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 227-246, April.
    3. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Neil Lee, 2020. "Hipsters vs. Geeks? Creative workers, STEM and innovation in US cities," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2021, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Apr 2020.
    4. Brunow, Stephan & Birkeneder, Antonia & Rodriguez-Pose, Andrés, 2017. "Creative and science oriented employees and firm innovation : a key for smarter cities?," IAB-Discussion Paper 201724, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    5. Alfredo Monte & Luca Pennacchio, 2020. "Historical roots of regional entrepreneurship: the role of knowledge and creativity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 1-22, June.
    6. Rodríguez-Gulías, María Jesús & Fernández-López, Sara & Rodeiro-Pazos, David, 2020. "Innovation in cultural and creative industries firms with an academic origin (CCI-USOs): The role of regional context," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    7. Stephan Brunow & Antonia Birkeneder & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2018. "Creative and science-oriented employees and firm-level innovation," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1808, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Feb 2018.
    8. Zhou, Tao & Huang, Xuhui & Zhang, Ning, 2023. "The effect of innovation pilot on carbon total factor productivity: Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    9. Campi, Mercedes & Dueñas, Marco & Ciarli, Tommaso, 2022. "Do Creative Industries Enhance Employment Growth? Regional Evidence from Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 11995, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Goya, Daniel, 2022. "Marshallian and Jacobian Externalities in Creative Industries," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 11962, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Nuno Campos Pereira & Nuno Araújo & Leonardo Costa, 2016. "A counting multidimensional innovation index for SMEs," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 01, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    12. Coll Martínez, Eva, 2018. "Creativity and entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence for Catalonia," Working Papers 2072/306521, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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