OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

INTRODUCTION
Yet these attitudes gradually evolved.
- Culture began to be appreciated for the jobs it creates and the tourism returns
it earns.
- At the same time, international trade patterns highlighted the growing place
occupied by cultural products.
- Cultural industries (books, records, audiovisual products) were in strong demand.
- Other products and services that combined a cultural dimension with their
utilitarian aspect (styling, fashion, architecture, arts and crafts) were recognised
as sources of value-added and were gradually ranked under the heading of creative
industries.
Various studies testified to the importance of these activities.
- In the United Kingdom, they were credited with creating 4.5% of total employment
(Pratt, 1997).
- In the United States, that proportion was estimated at 2.4% (Scott, 2000).
- In Japan, cultural employment has now been incorporated into the broader concept
of “creativity industries”, which encompasses twelve sectors: advertising;
architecture and related engineering services; the antiques market; the lacquer
industry; design; film and video industries; audiovisual production, live
performances; publishing; software; radio and television; and artistic and cultural
organisations. In 2001, the sector comprised more than 176 000 businesses and
provided over 1.9 million jobs, accounting for roughly 3.1% of aggregate
employment that year. In addition, the sector grew by 7.9% between 1996 and
2001, while over the same period other industries suffered a 7.8% decline in
employment (Yoshimoto, 2004).
- An initial study of countries of the European Union estimated that 2% of the
working population was engaged in cultural activities (Greffe, 1999), but a
second study raised that proportion to 7% by rolling the traditional concept of
culture into that of “digital culture” (Economix, 2002).
- Other studies sought to highlight the leverage effect that cultural heritage exerts
on creativity in the economy: in France, for example, it was shown that while
jobs related to exploiting cultural heritage accounted for 0.4% of the working
population, the number of jobs involving the transformation of heritage resources
into creative resources stood at nearly 3% (Greffe and Pflieger, 2003).
16 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005