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Creating the Cultural Community: Ethnic Diversity vs. Agglomeration

Author

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  • Margaret Olfert
  • Mark Partridge

Abstract

Abstract Following work by Richard Florida and Jane Jacobs, tolerance along with talent and technology are purported to attract the ‘creative class’, seen as key in spurring economic dynamism in the knowledge economy. Representing both tolerance and diversity, we test an index of community-level ethnic diversity against the location decisions of workers in the culture occupations, a key component of the creative class, in the recently defined Canadian Framework for Cultural Statistics. Supporting past studies, we find that greater ethnic diversity is consistent with a higher cultural occupations share in urban communities (though not rural). However, even for urban areas, growth in cultural occupation workers over the past 15 years is not affected by prior ethnic diversity. The culture workers' share in an urban community, once established, appears highly persistent, suggesting that policy aimed at enhancing the livability of a community through increasing its cultural footprint appears to be misguided. Création de la communauté culturelle: diversité ethnique ou agglomérationRésumé Dans le sillage des travaux menés par Richard Florida et Jane Jacobs, la tolérance, ainsi que le talent et la technologie, sont supposés attirer la «classe créative», considérée comme la cheville ouvrière de l'animation d'un dynamisme économique dans l’économie du savoir. En représentant tant la tolérance que la diversité, nous testons un index de diversité ethnique à l’échelon communautaire en fonction des décisions de localisation des travailleurs dans les activités culturelles, élément clé de la classe créative, dans le Cadre des Statistiques culturelles au Canada, défini récemment. A l'appui d’études précédentes, il nous semble qu'une diversité technique majeure va de pair avec un rôle supérieur des activités culturelles dans les communautés urbaines (et non rurales). Toutefois, même dans les zones urbaines, l'expansion des travailleurs dans le secteur des activités culturelles au cours des 15 dernières années n'est pas affectée par une diversité ethnique précédente. Une fois qu'elle a été établie, la part des travailleurs du secteur culturel dans la communauté urbaine semble extrêmement persistante, en indiquant ainsi qu'une politique visant à renforcer la qualité de vie d'une communauté par le biais de l'augmentation de sa présence culturelle serait erronée. Creación de la comunidad cultural: diversidad étnica frente a aglomeraciónExtracto Siguiendo el trabajo de Richard Florida y Jane Jacobs, la tolerancia junto con el talento y la tecnología se dan a entender para atraer a la ‘clase creativa’, percibida como clave para estimular el dinamismo económico en la economía del conocimiento. Representando tanto a la tolerancia como a la diversidad, ensayamos un índice de diversidad étnica a nivel de comunidad frente a las decisiones de emplazamiento de trabajadores en las Ocupaciones de Cultura, un componente clave de la clase creativa, en el recientemente definido Marco Canadiense de Estadísticas Culturales. Apoyando estudios pasados, descubrimos que una mayor diversidad étnica es consistente con un reparto más alto de ocupaciones culturales en comunidades urbanas (aunque no rurales). No obstante, incluso en las áreas urbanas, el crecimiento de los trabajadores de ocupación cultural durante los últimos 15 años no se ha visto afectado por diversidad étnica previa. Una vez establecido, el reparto de trabajadores de cultura en una comunidad parece ser muy persistente, lo que sugiere que las políticas dirigidas a mejorar los medios de vida de una comunidad a través de aumentar su huella cultural parecen ser erróneas.

Suggested Citation

  • Margaret Olfert & Mark Partridge, 2011. "Creating the Cultural Community: Ethnic Diversity vs. Agglomeration," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 25-55.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:specan:v:6:y:2011:i:1:p:25-55
    DOI: 10.1080/17421772.2010.540032
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    1. Jana Schmutzler & Edward Lorenz, 2018. "Tolerance, agglomeration, and enterprise innovation performance: a multilevel analysis of Latin American regions," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 243-268.
    2. Olfert, R. & Berdegué, J. & Escobal, J. & Jara, B. & Modrego, F., 2011. "Places for Place-Based Policies," Working papers 079, Rimisp Latin American Center for Rural Development.
    3. Mark D. Partridge & M. Rose Olfert, 2011. "The Winners' Choice: Sustainable Economic Strategies for Successful 21st-Century Regions," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(2), pages 143-178.
    4. Baycan, T. & Nijkamp, P., 2011. "Students' interest in an entrepreneurial career in a multicultural society," Serie Research Memoranda 0034, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    5. David B. Audretsch & Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2021. "Cultural diversity and knowledge in explaining entrepreneurship in European cities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 593-611, February.
    6. Bayar, Mehmet, 2016. "The impact of cultural diversity on the German housing market," Ruhr Economic Papers 662, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    7. Amitrajeet Batabyal & Peter Nijkamp, 2013. "The creative class, its preferences, and unbalanced growth in an urban economy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 189-209, January.
    8. Shade T Shutters & Rachata Muneepeerakul & José Lobo, 2016. "Constrained pathways to a creative urban economy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(16), pages 3439-3454, December.
    9. Karima Kourtit & Daniel Arribas-Bel & Peter Nijkamp, 2013. "High Performance in Complex Spatial Systems: A Self-Organizing Mapping Approach with Reference to The Netherlands," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-194/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    10. Batabyal, Amitrajeet & Beladi, Hamid, 2014. "The equilibrium allocation of creative capital to R&D in a dynamic creative region," MPRA Paper 72325, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Zhiling Wang & Thomas de Graaff & Peter Nijkamp, 2014. "The choice of migration destinations: cultural diversity versus cultural distance," ERSA conference papers ersa14p1147, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2015. "Cultural Diversity - A Matter of Measurement," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1502, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    13. Zhiling Wang & Thomas De Graaff & Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "Cultural Diversity and Cultural Distance as Choice Determinants of Migration Destination," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 176-200, June.
    14. Haifeng Qian, 2013. "Diversity Versus Tolerance: The Social Drivers of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in US Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(13), pages 2718-2735, October.
    15. Amitrajeet A. Batabyal & Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "Digital technologies, knowledge spillovers, innovation policies, and economic growth in a creative region," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 470-484, July.
    16. Mario Polèse, 2012. "The Arts and Local Economic Development: Can a Strong Arts Presence Uplift Local Economies? A Study of 135 Canadian Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(8), pages 1811-1835, June.
    17. Wentao Yu & Xiaolan Tan, 2022. "The creative class in China: Heterogeneity and its regional determinants," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3466-3478, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Creative class; ethnic diversity; community economic development; agglomeration economies; R11; R12; R23; R58;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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