Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

8Policy strategies for the creative industriesindustrial policy in which creativity and innovation areimportant drivers of growth is well suited to the conditionsof globalization and structural change. For developing countriesin particular, a refocusing of industry policy along theselines can begin to open up many of the exciting possibilitiesfor growing the creative economy that have been outlined inthis report.Another major area of economic policy for which thecreative economy has significant implications is, of course,trade policy. Trade in products such as audiovisual serviceshas had significant impact on the cultural sectors of countriesin the developed and developing worlds alike, and henceon the formation of cultural policy. For many countries, thetraditional concepts of cultural policy have expanded toincorporate the promotion of cultural exports and theprotection of vulnerable domestic creative industries.8.2 The role of public policiesThe economic role of government is conventionallytaken to comprise public interventions to promote:■■■efficient resource allocation in the economy;full employment, price stability and external balance; andequitable distribution of income and wealth.With regard to domestic policy towards the creativeeconomy, the rationale for involvement of the public sectorcan be described under several areas of intervention, as follows:■ Market failure (public goods). The cultural sector in generaland the creative arts in particular are normally regarded asa source of diffused community benefits that have thecharacteristics of non-rival and non-excludable publicgoods. A particular public benefit of relevance here is thesocial cohesion that can be expected to flow from culturalactivities and creative production within communities.■ Market failure (imperfect competition). If industries becomeconcentrated to such an extent that competition breaksdown, government intervention may be warranted torestore competitive conditions. A specific case of this inthe creative economies of developing countries may ariseOther areas of economic and social policy with linkages tothe creative economy include: tourism; urban and regionaldevelopment (especially the “creative city” area); culturalrights and cultural diversity; education and training; andcopyright and intellectual property. If the widened scope forpolicy towards the creative economy is to be entertained, itwill require significant collaboration between the variousministries and bureaucratic departments. Only by such cooperationwill the full development potential of the creativeeconomy be realized.It is important to bear in mind the international contextwithin which policymaking takes place. Multilateralprocesses are the essence of international policies and thedriving force to move forward the international economicand development agenda. These processes will be discussedin the next chapter.■■if global corporations producing cultural products are ina position to monopolize local markets to the exclusion oflocally produced cultural expressions.Market failure (research and development). The involvement ofgovernment in promoting R&D is justified on thegrounds that beneficial externalities might be producedand/or that the public sector may be in a better positionthan private companies to assume the sorts of riskinvolved, with the prospect of sharing in the payoff fromsuccessful discoveries. In the case of the creative economy,governments can and do facilitate R&D investments increative product development for either or both of thesereasons and may undertake strategic investments in thecreative sector with the hope of “picking winners”.Education and training. Governments have particular responsibilitiesin the areas of education, training, certificationand licensing. Significant strides have been made in thedeveloping world towards achieving universal literacy andensuring access to education opportunities that are bothrelevant and of high quality. The resources available forspecific training programmes are, however, often verylimited. For the time being, training and educationopportunities relating to the creative industries are almost210 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010