OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

3. PROMOTING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BY CREATING CULTURAL PRODUCTS
goods precisely, we can at least recognise them as goods that are continuously being
updated to incorporate new references and knowledge. Even things like handicrafts
undergo constant adjustment to reflect improved expertise and changes in tastes.
Cultural production involves experiments and prototypes. As soon as it is offered, a
cultural product tends to give way to another cultural product. This process of
localisation is reinforced by globalisation. By broadening markets considerably,
globalisation places constant demands on creativity and engineering capacities, but
it also offers more diversified markets on which they can be promoted.
- In this way, proximity becomes an asset for producers — they can engage in
non-monetary (or sometimes monetary) trading whereby they can constantly
update their knowledge and their know-how.
- Similarly, production workers in cultural organisations know that the contours
of those organisations will change with the shifting nature of projects. They
have every interest, then, in staying close to the major buyers, because they
may have to switch organisations quickly.
- Finally, the marketing of cultural products has always posed problems for their
producers, and coordinating their resources is essential to creating specialised
networks.
In a sense, the need for proximity is even greater if, as in the case of cultural products,
the content is highly intangible and idiosyncratic.
The importance of proximity will depend on the size of the enterprises or the stage
of the production process at which they operate.
- When it comes to cultural products, big firms tend to concentrate on distribution
(indeed only big firms are in a position to service worldwide markets), and will
limit their production activities to exceptional products of the “blockbuster” type.
- In contrast, small firms will be engaged primarily in production, and for them their
geographic location will be important. They must be able to make constant tradeoffs
among the different factors of production, artistic or other resources, and to
maintain a close link between today’s production activity and preparations for
tomorrow. The need for proximity will result in concentration, for all these little
firms will need to focus on their local territory if they are to achieve their objectives 85 .
The nature of cultural risk
When a firm must come up with new goods or services for its own activity, it has
the choice of producing them in house or purchasing them on the market: this is the
104 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005