An International Comparative Quick Scan of National Policies for Creative Industries.

The Dutch Government has commissioned a quick scan of explicit national policies for creative industries. This explorative international comparative study focuses on policies aiming to stimulate economic development of creative industries. It is concerned with tailor-made policies for creative industries, dedicated policies for its sub-sectors and explicit attention for creative industries in standard economic policies. The investigation includes examples from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The examples also come from regions for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany and Spain. For the quick scan approximately 1000 policies have been examined in 18 countries. Creative industries comprise three groups: arts (performing arts, visual arts and photography, cultural events, etc.), media and entertainment (film, audiovisual sector, literature and journalism etc.), and creative business services (design, fashion, architecture, new media and gaming, advertising etc.). The quick scan considers the following mainstream economic policies that are used for creative industries: Stimulating innovation in creative industries; Promoting entrepreneurship in creative industries; Supporting creative entrepreneurs to get access to venture capital; o Market development: facilitating creative entrepreneurs to develop their markets at home but especially abroad; Fostering the development of creative clusters; o Safeguarding intellectual property rights to encourage creativity and assure rewards to creators; Other policies that stimulate economic development in creative industries but do not fit in the adopted classification. The quick scan shows that the awareness of the economic potential of creative industries is rising. Many countries have commissioned studies into the economic impact of creative industries since the first Creative Industry Mapping Document published in the United Kingdom in 1998. Both economic and cultural policymakers have been involved in those studies. In some other countries the national attention for the economic potential of creative industries is also growing. A key question is: are creative industries primarily the subject of economic or cultural policy? The explorative study shows that national governments consider it to be both. The most interesting policies combine cultural objectives (diversity, quality and distribution) and economic objectives (innovation, entrepreneurship, export, investment, clustering and economic growth). The policy schemes included in the research indicate that the majority of policies stimulating the economic development of creative industries originate from, and are funded by, the cultural sectors. The awareness of its economic potential has increased but it has not resulted in an appropriate balance between mainstream economic policy and cultural policy. The majority of countries in the investigation do not have a comprehensive national strategy for creative industries. Nonetheless, the number of countries with an integrated national strategy for creative industries is growing. Most of the countries in the research have integrated strategies for sub-sectors of creative industries (such as design, audiovisual, media and gaming). Of course, creative industries are not excluded from generic economic policies but it appears to be difficult to meet the criteria to qualify for support for these policies. An explicit strategy for creative industries also raises the issue of priorities. In some cases, economic policies focus more on creation whereas other countries prioritise distribution. Most countries though have explicit policies for creation and production on the one hand and for distribution on the other. Generally speaking, the latter is better integrated in standard economic policies than the first. Increasingly, the delivery of the policies for creative industries, as well as for policies aiming to stimulate sub-sectors, are put in the hand of arm’s length organisations. These organisations are funded from various public sources. These organisations give account for their activities to the Ministries involved. In some cases, special workgroups with representatives of Ministries and other public stakeholders supervise the national strategy. What is the role of national governments in the policies for creative industries? What should be done locally and what nationally? There is no unambiguous answer to this question. It depends very much on the type of policies. The national level is leading for international market development, venture capital schemes and copyright policies (in relation to supranational policies). Local and regional governments are leading in creative cluster policies and entrepreneurship. Innovation policies give a mixed picture as all levels of government are strongly involved. Nevertheless, national governments are in charge of the most important innovation policy schemes.