NAFTA and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis

The “Pollution Haven Hypothesis” is the prediction that trade liberalization will lead to the movement of polluting industries from high income/stringent environmental regulation countries to low income/lax environmental regulation countries. This prediction has led to concerns that NAFTA would be an environmental disaster for Mexico. The three articles included in this collection investigate the post‐NAFTA environmental performance of Mexico using both aggregate data on pollution emissions as well as firm‐level data on environmental abatement efforts. In this article, I summarize the contribution in the context of the trade/environmental literature and provide some suggestions for future work.     

Assessing the local embeddedness dynamics of the Baumwollspinnerei cultural quarter in Leipzig: introducing the POSES Star Framework

This paper argues that it is important for urban scholars and practitioners to comparatively appraise the differential forms of local embeddedness of cultural quarters. Such appraisals can help to realize more sustainable practices of cultural quarter anchoring within neighbourhoods. The case study of Leipzig, Germany – a city that deploys both ‘creative city’ and ‘cultural industries’ models of urban development within a context of post-industrial, post-socialist transformation – is used to examine the adaptive re-use of a former cotton-spinning mill, the Baumwollspinnerei, into an internationally renowned cultural quarter. The POSES Star Framework is developed as an analytical tool to systematically outline multiple local embeddedness dynamics (political, organizational, social, ephemeral, and spatial) of a cultural quarter within a neighbourhood and within a specific urban planning and policy context. The application of the POSES Star Framework to the Baumwollspinnerei reveals that internal organizational concerns for site development and marketing are prioritized over external engagements with Leipzig's urban planning and cultural policy discourses.     

The Creative Industries,Creative Occupations and Innovation in London

London is a global hub of the creative industries. These industries are seen as both innovative in themselves and an input in innovation processes in other sectors. Yet few studies have tested these relationships. This article investigates these issues using large-scale survey data for London. Using four measures of product and process innovation, we find no evidence that London's creative industries are more innovative than other sectors. Yet, individuals doing creative occupations in other sectors are a robust driver of product innovation in London's firms. The results suggest that occupations performed in London may be an important driver of product innovation in the city, and firms in other sectors may use creative occupations to develop new products in the capital. This finding is supportive of policies attempting to stimulate the creative industries by integrating creative occupations into firms across the whole economy.     

Towards ‘Embedded Non-creative Work’? Administration,digitisation and the recorded music industry

Abstract

For contemporary cultural policy, ‘non-creative’ work continues to form a conceptual blindspot: a foil to define and value creativity against. This paper develops existing categories to augment the task-focused notion of ‘embedded creativity’ with a more situated view of work’s cultural and institutional embedding. It first interrogates this ‘embeddedness’, taking a ‘cultural economy’ approach to intermediation and administrative support. Drawing on observations from an in-depth qualitative study of employees in major record labels, the second part articulates the heightened importance of ‘admin’ to recorded music industries, after ‘digital disruption’. Routine bureaucratic labour presents an atypical example, revealing much about the hidden relational and identity work that goes into constructing ‘creative industries’ as such. The intention is not to show that ‘embedded non-creative workers’ are in fact ‘creative’ but, on the contrary, to articulate the distinct contributions and value of support work in this context, questioning a persistent reliance on creative/non-creative dualisms. Policy research would benefit from enriched understanding of culture's assembly in marketable objects, reorienting understandings of ‘cultural’ labour markets and careers, and reimagining the role of traditional cultural ‘administration’ in the contemporary ‘creative economy’.     

Oslo: In What Way an Innovative City?

The article analyses to which extent and in what way the Oslo region may be considered as an innovative and dynamic city in the Norwegian context. Although the European Union Community Innovation Survey (CIS II) concludes that the Oslo region has the same share of innovative firms as the national average, other data sources convincingly demonstrate that Oslo is an innovative city in the Norwegian context, having for example comparatively many 'radically' innovative firms and a high rate of new firm formation. However, knowledge organizations in Oslo do not function as hubs in wider innovation systems to any large degree. The empirical results may most fruitfully be explained with reference to a 'bottom-up' theoretical approach, that considers specific local and regional resources, relations and routines as important sources of innovation.     

城市文化产业园区建设的区位因素分析

随着文化产业在我国的发展,城市文化产业园区的建设在各地日益兴起。本文在探讨文化产业园的概念、内涵、类型及目前我国发展现状的基础上,对城市文化产业园区在建设过程中的区位因素进行了探讨分析。认为现阶段影响我国城市文化产业园区建设的主要区位因素为:文化资源禀赋、制度因素、信息技术、人才智力资源。最后讨论了城市文化产业园区区位选址中应注意的问题。     

The cultural industry policies of the Korean government and the Korean Wave

The paper examines how the Korean government promoted Korea’s cultural industries over the last 20?years. In the early 1990s, there was a radical departure in the government’s cultural industry policy, from that of political control over the cultural industries to viewing them as central to the government’s export-focused economic development strategies. The policy of developing the cultural industries was implemented in conjunction with government investment in other strategic industries, such as the information and communication technology industries. In the 2000s, the domestic market for cultural products expanded and diversified rapidly as the Korean society enjoyed improved living standards and a growing middle class demanded improved quality from Korea’s cultural products. The rapid development of other industries also facilitated the enhanced competitiveness of Korean cultural products in global markets. As a result, Korea’s cultural industries made substantial inroads into East-Asian markets in the late 1990s and into global markets in the 2000s.     

Policies to promote employment and preserve cultural heritage in the handicraft sector

For many countries around the world, the handicraft sector has served as a means of maintaining and promoting cultural and artistic traditions. It has also been an important source of employment and income. However, the contributions of this sector to total employment and income are not well understood. In this paper, we present data on employment in the handicraft sector in a number of countries in the developing world. We find evidence that this sector employs over 10% of the labor force in many countries, and that further documentation of this employment is needed in order to design policies to maximize opportunities in this sector. We also identify policies that governments can undertake to preserve the cultural heritage embodied in handicrafts and to promote the export of these products. The importance of these policy recommendations is highlighted with the case of Peru, which has faced considerable import competition in the handicraft sector in recent years.     

Global Value Chains,Industrial Policy and Economic Upgrading in Ethiopia's Apparel Sector

This article examines whether low-income countries can still benefit from participating in manufacturing global value chains (GVCs) in terms of broader industrial development in a global context of greater competition and higher requirements. It contends that developing internationally competitive local firms and domestic linkages, in addition to upgrading, is crucial for participation in GVCs to drive industrialization. The study focuses on Ethiopia's recent experience with developing an apparel export industry through strategic industrial policy. Based on original empirical data collected through firm-level surveys and interviews with government officials, industry experts and buyers, the article analyses the upgrading and localization trajectories of foreign and local apparel-exporting firms. It argues that value-capture benefits in assembly positions in apparel GVCs have become more difficult. The potential for localization benefits depends on the type of global buyers and foreign producers and their levels of embeddedness, but whether this potential is realized also depends on local firm characteristics and related industrial policy. Ethiopia's industrial policy has been relatively successful regarding national economy linkages, but less successful in developing competitive local export firms due to a weak local manufacturing tradition combined with a global context that has led to a supplier squeeze.     

USER INNOVATION AND CREATIVE CONSUMPTION IN JAPANESE CULTURE INDUSTRIES: THE CASE OF AKIHABARA,TOKYO

The consumption and export of material and immaterial commodities based upon Japanese popular culture is rapidly growing and continually finds new fans all around the world. In this article, it is suggested that some of the competitiveness of these unique cultural phenomena can be traced to the very dense and vivid area of Akihabara in Tokyo. Its long history as an electronic retail district and a more recent influx of firms and shops focused on popular culture has created a strong place brand that continues to mark Akihabara as the capital of Japanese cultural industries. It is a space where different consumers, specialist subcultures and firms and their products can interact. The area functions as a hub were ideas and values are exchanged, tested and promoted. The article argues that research on innovation milieus must take account of the role of users and their relation to place.     

Three arguments against ‘soft innovation’: towards a richer understanding of cultural innovation

This paper critiques recent research on innovation in the cultural and creative industries. In particular, this paper examines Paul Stoneman’s idea of ‘soft innovation’ as a jumping off point for discussing theories of cultural innovation more broadly. Three critiques are advanced. Firstly, soft innovation is a theoretical perspective that has developed from neoclassical economics, and is therefore vulnerable to criticisms levelled at neoclassical explanations of economic behaviour. Secondly, the theory of soft innovation can be criticised for being contingently inaccurate: the observed reality of cultural industries and marketplaces may not reflect the theory’s premises. Thirdly, because soft innovation defines the significance of an innovation in terms of marketplace success, it implies that only high-selling cultural products are significant, a difficult claim to substantiate. This paper concludes by arguing that our understanding of innovation in the cultural sphere can benefit from a multi-disciplinary approach grounded in the full gamut of human creativity.     

Trade and culture: the United States

ABSTRACT

The US government has long held that cultural goods and services represent an economic sector like any other and should be liberalized. The American cultural and digital industries enjoy a strong competitive advantage and constitute a leading export sector. This US stance has antagonized many countries pursuing cultural policies. This has led the US government to soften its trade strategy and accept financial measures, as well as a broader array of ‘traditional’ cultural regulatory instruments. At the same time, the United States insists on the absence of restrictions in digital networks, through which cultural contents are to be increasingly distributed and accessed. Under the negative-list negotiating approach, whereby everything is liberalized save for specific exceptions, states parties to US trade agreements have secured a varying array of measures. However, only a handful, essentially industrial countries, have secured digital exceptions, the latter coupled with conditions raising questions concerning their applicability.     

台湾地区博物馆发展文化创意产业的理念与实践

文化创意为近年来发达国家地区竞相发展的经济力,我国台湾在地方政府的鼓励扶持下,利用文化创造活力强、文物资源丰富等优势,积极发展文化创意产业,成果突出,其中台北"故宫博物院"具有台湾地区博物馆发展文创产业指标的地位。台北"故宫博物院"通过精心设计展览内涵、向社会开放文物数字资源、培养民众美学素养等方式,吸引并固定了一大批观众;同时还积极开拓商机,征求厂商合作开发文物衍生商品,并结合典藏文物特色设计餐饮空间,文化创意产业获得了可观的产值和显著的社会效应。     

西方地理学界关于文化产业研究述评

20世纪80年代到90年代中期,属于西方地理学界对文化产业研究的萌芽阶段,其研究只限于少数实证。20世纪90年代中期以来则是其发展阶段,这一阶段的研究主要涉及文化产业就业的地域特征、文化产业对区域与城市的作用、全球化与文化产业发展、文化产业集聚体/集群实证、文化产业的发展机制、信息技术对文化产业的影响、文化产业管治等七个方面。今后还需展开的研究领域,主要包括:文化产业就业的微观属性,文化产业发行、消费环节,产业集聚体/集群多类型的实证,文化产业低效/无效管治的实证等方面。     

Cultural governance and creative industries in Singapore

Singapore, a leading country in the Asia‐Pacific region, is currently attempting to transform its cultural industry into creative economy. Creative economies capitalise on how knowledge can be marketed by merging arts, technology and business. They ensure a nation's competitiveness within an integrated global economy. This paper critically examines Singapore's recent cultural policy developments in tourism, broadcasting and new media. It argues that new creative industries have produced new consumption patterns and identities that harness the place‐branding of “New Asia” as a form of cultural capital and a strategy of regional dominance. Cybernetics is proposed as an approach to frame creative cultural governance and consumption in Singapore.     

Salafism in Modern Egypt: Panacea or Pest?

Abstract

The aim of the article is to introduce the reader to the nature of Salafism in Egypt and its growing influence on the population. It sets out to explore the degree to which Egypt's current Salafi networks may justifiably be described as a Saudi Arabian phenomenon, and as promoting behaviours that clash with Egyptian religious and cultural traditions. The paper is divided into three sections: (1) It begins with an overview of what Salafism means in the modern global context; (2) It briefly describes Salafism's development in Egypt since the early twentieth century; (3) It explores the ways in which Salafism acts in concert with, as well as confronts, Egypt's cultural and religious traditions.     

Modelling the cultural industries

Alternative definitions of the cultural industries lead to the construction of different models of the cultural production sector of the economy and hence to a different array of specific industries which are contained within the sector. In turn this implies not just differing estimates of the contribution of the cultural industries to output and employment in the economy but also significant differences in the way economic analysis can be applied to the cultural sector as a whole. This paper begins by discussing the way in which an economic approach to interpreting the scope of the creative and cultural industries can lead to a reasonable basis for defining them. It then goes on to examine the content of six distinct models of these industries, asking the question: is it possible to find a common core group of industries on which all of the models agree? The paper then considers the implications of the models for economic analysis of the cultural sector, and finishes with some conclusions for cultural policy.     

Power,politics and business

The study of business and politics is attracting new interest, perhaps due to changing configurations of power in Western societies undergoing rapid but uneven structural and cultural change. Previous debates have demonstrated the inadequacy of the pressure group model, primarily because of its insensitivity to the socio‐economic foundations of power and the significance of the cultural context. This paper reviews the approach proposed by Charles E. Lindblom's Politics and Markets, examines some attempts to refine that approach and advances some criticisms of a general methodological nature. It is suggested that neo‐marxist perspectives are more likely than post‐pluralist ones to be able to comprehend the articulation of agency and context, or behaviour and structure. A concluding section points to the relative paucity of Australian work on business and politics, notes the contributions of Connell and Irving and Tsokhas, and suggests that the increasingly important and volatile field of banking and finance has been especially neglected.     

Youthful Creativity in Regional Australia: Panacea for Unemployment and Out‐Migration?

This paper addresses the theme of youth out‐migration from rural Australia, in the context of recent policy discussions about creativity and its role in regional development. Ethnographic fieldwork in one rural location – the New South Wales Far North Coast – is drawn upon to highlight how creative industries are being cast as a potential way of promoting cultural activities and jobs for young people, and in turn, how they might be imagined as a means to mitigate youth out‐migration. Yet, creative industries have contradictory employment and social outcomes. Creative industries are likely to generate higher rates of youth participation in economic activities than public data reveal. However, strategies for future job growth should also consider the limitations and instabilities of creative industry employment. Second, and more broadly, the paper discusses those socio‐cultural dimensions of nascent creative industries that may have a more substantial impact when conceived as part of strategies to stem youth exodus from rural areas. Creative activities may contribute to rural development in indirect ways, especially if linked to policy goals of increased tolerance of youth activities, better provision of cultural services, and improved well‐being for young people. While formal job‐creation may be limited, creative industries could mitigate some of the impacts of youth migration to cities by enriching regional social life and mediating perceptions of the advantages and drawbacks of rural versus urban life. This kind of policy imagination requires a shift in attitudes towards young people and a more genuine commitment to encourage young people to feel that they belong in non‐metropolitan areas.