Hasan Bakhshi, Director, Creative Economy, Nesta Measuring Creative Economies, Identifying Creative Industries Berlin Research Symposium on Culture and Creative Industries 23 rd October 2014
2 ‘Cultural Industries’ ‘Creative Industries’ Cultural and Creative Industries
The Creative Industries 3 DCMS (1998, 2001) definition: “Those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skills and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property” Pragmatic selection of 13 sectors in DCMS classification Selection of SIC codes enabled size of workforce, value added and exports to be estimated Pragmatism explains both enduring nature and weakness in this approach: criteria for inclusion not well specified; Arts + Creative Content + Creative Services + Software
Lies, damned lies, and statistics 4 Industrial collapse? No! Change in definitions in 2011 saw exclusion of software from creative industries Lack of methodology => statistics vulnerable either to arbitrary changes which introduce breaks in series or condemn classifications never to adapt to structural change.. Source: DCMS (2010, 2011).
Towards a systematic approach 5 Dynamic Mapping of the UK’s Creative Industries (2013) Transparent method to classify and measure creative industries i.Classify creative occupation SOC codes ii.Creative industries = industries with high creative intensity (high % of workforce in creative occupations) iii.Creative economy = creative industries workforce + creative workforce in other industries
Classifying creative occupations 6 Five criteria to identify creative occupations in SOC codes Mechanisation resistantDoes the occupation have no clear mechanical substitutes? Novel processDoes the occupation commonly achieve a goal in novel ways? Non-repetitiveness or non- uniform function Does the transformation the occupation affects vary each time it is done? Creative contribution to the value chain Is the occupation creative irrespective of the context e.g. is the activity creative if done in a bank or equally a theatre? Interpretation, not just transformation Does the occupation do more than ‘shift’ a service or artefact’s form?
1.7 million creative and other jobs in creative industries million creative jobs in wider economy = 2.6 million jobs in the creative economy Source: APS (2013) Creative industries distinguished by their intensive use of creative talent 50% of creative jobs in the wider economy UK’s Creative Economy
Visualising the Creative Economy 8 computer programming activities (SIC 6201). Largest employer of creative occupations Programmers and software development professionals (SOC 2136) employed in computer programming activities (SIC 6201) Graphic designers (SOC 3421) employed in specialised design activities (SIC 7410) Product, clothing and related designers (SOC 3422) employed in specialised design activities (SIC 7410 )
Conclusions Importance of transparent methodology - avoids arbitrary changes - enables classifications to change as structure of economy changes (as industries become more or less creative) Benefits of having clear definitions for ‘creative economy’ and ‘creative industries’ -> reframing objectives of national industrial policy Power of data visualisation 9
Thank you! Hasan 10