Growth and employment in the UK's culture industry

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in the possibility that investment in culture for consumption can make significant contributions to economic growth, particularly in economically depressed urban and industrial environments. This paper considers the available evidence from the UK relating to these issues. First, the culture industries are defined. Then, an attempt is made to estimate the structure and size of the UK culture industries: of particular importance are the interlinkages between the public and private sectors. This leads to an assessment of the changing economic importance of the culture industries. In addition to overall growth, the regionally uneven impact of development of the culture industries is also noted. A more detailed analysis of the relationship between culture and development is provided by a number of case studies. These highlight the complexity of the relationship and the importance of avoiding facile policy generalization.

Keywords:

• culture
• economy
• urban regeneration
• UK
• public sector