Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

10Lessons learned and policy optionsfunctioning of the entire value chain of each creative industry,from the idea to the end user, in order to determine optimalpoints of policy intervention. A systematic understandingof who the stakeholders in the creative economy are, howthey relate to one another, and how the creative sector relatesto other sectors of the economy is critical for informedpolicymaking.One tool that has proven useful for studying thecreative economy is value-chain analysis, which depicts theprogress of creative goods from an initial idea to the finalconsumption. It is important to examine the early stages inthe chain, in particular the structure for the creation and productionof the creative goods or services. Production units inthis sector range from individual artists and producers on theone hand to large transnational corporations on the other. Inbetween are small and microenterprises, which in the largemajority of countries comprise the most significant structurein terms of volume of output and levels of employment andcommunity engagement. In a number of instances, thesebusinesses offer the best prospect for combining economicrevenue potential with the development of authentic culturalsymbols and traditions, as is the case in the production ofcraftwork, fashion products, music recordings, etc. Indeed,small and medium-sized enterprises are the cornerstone oflocally based creative industries, and play a key role in injectingeconomic, cultural and social life in the communities andcities. Value-chain analysis equally enables the identificationof creative products and services with particular competitiveadvantages or with potential of being target as niche markets.10.2.6 Data issuesReliable data on the creative economy — on its inputs,outputs, value of production, prices, employment and trade— are in short supply, and not only in developing countries.There is an urgent need to improve the collection of statisticsto serve as a basis for formulating creative-industry policy.The lack of a tradition for economic valuation and measurementin the cultural sphere, combined with difficulties ofdefinition in the realm of cultural activities and creativegoods and services, has meant that there has been a dearth ofreliable indicators on which to base assessments of the sizeand scope of the creative economy. Moreover, the rapid paceof technological change has made it difficult to keep abreastof the new products and services constantly coming onto themarket. Another difficulty is linked to the fact that creativeindustries in principle are highly fragmented, with manymicrobusinesses and in many developing countries operate inthe informal sector, and this further complicates data collectionand analysis. The mapping exercise is a costly and timeconsumingprocess, and most developing countries lack thehuman and budgetary resources to embark on a comprehensivemapping of the creative economy.Although UNESCO proposed a new framework forcultural statistics in 2009, the databases are empty for thetime being. To date in 2010, only a few countries have a limitedset of measures of creative-industry output, employmentand trade. In an ideal world, these are the data withwhich we might start. In addition, data on participation incultural and creative activities would help to develop a broaderperspective. Obviously, new models are required since thecurrent methodologies are outdated. Regarding creativeemployment, statistics on occupation by industry are necessaryto assess the linkages between the creative industries andother sectors while data on the locational distribution ofemployment is important for the analysis of creative clusters.Concerning trade, although exports and imports ofphysical products produced by the creative industries aredocumented and analysed by UNCTAD (see chapter 5 andthe annex of this report), the increasing dematerialization ofcultural products has made statistical tracking of trade problematic.In the case of audiovisuals and music, the internationalmarket in rights and services definitely exceeds thephysical market in value terms, yet documentation of thevolume and value of rights trade does not exist. In effect, thematerial goods of the creative industries are potentially lessimportant than its immaterial/rights dimension; unfortunately,this is an area on which there is no official data availableat global level. Moreover, little is known about the effectivemodes of governance of rights earnings relating to thecreative industries. WIPO has made some interventions inthis field, but its objective is regulation; thus it focuses ondifferent variables.Despite these limitations, it is possible to assembleconsistent data on trends in exports and imports of creativeproducts classified by region and by product category andmake a trade analysis, on the basis of available data withoutextra costs or work for countries. UNCTAD started this exercisein 2007 and considerable improvements have since beenmade to improve the quality and coverage of the creativeindustries trade statistics, as elaborated in chapter 4. Thework presented in this report — in addition to the fact that258 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010