The creative economy and its linkages in the metropolitan areas of Mexico

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the linkages of the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) in the metropolitan areas of Mexico and identifies two regionally differentiated ‘locational-pull factors’: the city’s industrial base and amenities. These factors have been reinforced by the deconcentration of the Mexican urban system. The industrial base locational-pull factors plays an important role in cities involved in international trade with the United States/Canada, while the pull of amenities drives a different path associated with tourist and cultural enclaves. In Mexico, software and creative services (such as advertising) exhibit strong linkages within creative sectors and with other non-creative industries.

摘要

墨西哥大都市地区创意经济及其联系。Area Development and Policy. 本文对墨西哥大都市区 (MAs) 创意和文化产业 (CCI) 之间联系进行了分析, 确定两个区域差异化的‘区位拉动因素’, 即城市的工业基础和便利设施。这些因素由于墨西哥城市系统分散化而加强。工业基础‘区位拉动因素’在与美国或加拿大进行国际贸易的城市中发挥着重要作用, 而便利设施的拉动则推动了与旅游和文化飞地相关的不同路径。在墨西哥, 软件和创意服务 (如广告) 在创意行业内和其他非创意行业之间展现出强大联系。

RESUMEN

La economía creativa y sus vinculaciones en las áreas metropolitanas de México. Area Development and Policy. Este trabajo analiza las vinculaciones de las Industrias Creativas y Culturales en las zonas metropolitanas de México e identifica dos factores de atracción y localización que están regionalmente diferenciados: la base industrial y las amenidades de una ciudad. Estos factores a su vez han sido retroalimentados por la desconcentración del sistema urbano mexicano. El factor de atracción y localización basado en la base industrial juega un papel central en las ciudades que están comercialmente integradas al mercado de libre comercio de America del Norte, mientras que el factor de atracción de amenidades desarrolla una trayectoria diferente asociada con turismo y enclaves culturales. En México, software y servicios creativos (como publicidad) exhiben fuertes vinculaciones dentro de los sectores creativos y con otras industrias no creativas.

Аннотация

Креативная экономика и ее связи в городских ареалах Мексики. Area Development and Policy. Этот анализ связей творческих и культурных индустрий (CCIS) в городских ареалах Мексики (MAS) выявляет два регионально дифференцированных ‘фактора, влияющих на местоположение’: промышленную базу и удобства города. Эти факторы были усилены деконцентрацией мексиканской городской системы. Факторы, определяющие местоположение промышленной базы, играют важную роль в городах, участвующих в международной торговле с США/Канадой, в то время как привлекательность удобств ведет по другому пути, связанному с туристическими и культурными анклавами. В Мексике программное обеспечение и креативные услуги (такие как реклама) демонстрируют тесные связи в творческих секторах и с другими нетворческими отраслями промышленности.

KEYWORDS:

• creative and cultural industries
• metropolitan areas
• location and specialization
• input–output

关键词:

• 创意和文化产业
• 都市圈
• 地点和应用领域
• 输入-输出

palabras clave:

• Industrias creativas y culturales
• áreas metropolitanas
• localización-especialización
• insumo producto

Ключевые слова:

• Креативные и культурные индустрии
• мегаполис
• местоположение и специализация
• затраты-выпуск

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. An UNCTAD-type sectorial classification is adopted (UNCTAD, 2010) in which creative industries go beyond the confines of the cultural sector and incorporate sectors such as media and information and communication technologies (ICTs). CCIs are printing, publishing, advertising, architecture–engineering, arts/antique markets, crafts, design, film–motion picture/video industries, music/sound recording industries, performing/visual arts, independent artists, photography, broadcasting, software/computer games, heritage/cultural sites, recreational services, and research and development (R&D).

2. The types of specific activity classes, based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that belong to each group, are not presented here, but can be requested from the authors.

3. Trident estimates consider creative employment not confined to creative industries (Cunningham & Higgs, 2008; Markusen et al., 2008). Around 10% of the workforce is employed in creative occupations in Mexico, which is roughly similar to the countries of the European Union and the UK (Pratt et al., 2015).

4. The estimated convergence equation is:

$\mathrm{\Delta }GCV{A}_{2018-2003,i}=\propto +\beta zGCV{A}_{i,2003}+{\epsilon }_i,$

where i is the MA; zGCVA is the log share; epsilon is a stochastic error; and alpha is a constant. $\beta <0$ is indicative of convergence. The OLS estimate was $\beta =-0.65$ with a t-statistic of −1.97.

5. Specialization is measured by the LQ that compares the relative specialization of the region in a sector with respect to the national average, and is defined as:

$L{Q}_{Ij}=\frac{A_{ij}/A_j}{A_{in}/A_n}$

where A_ij is the output (or firms) of activity i in region j, A_j is the total output (or firms) in region j; A_in is the output (or firms) of total activity j (national); and A_n is the total output (or firms).

6. A focus on technology sectors is justified by the agglomeration economies that can be generated based on the location of companies with high-technological content, and given the effects of these economies on the emergence of creative companies (De Miguel-Molina et al., 2012). Similarly, beer, hotels and restaurants are used as proxies for the effects that tourism can generate on CCIs.

7. Chapain et al. (2010) also found that the art and antiques segment was negatively correlated with high-tech manufacturing and KIBS in the UK.

8. Specifically, an MA was classified as an amenity if it had a specialization (based on GCVA) either in hotels or in entertainment in 2013, and displayed a specialization (based on co-location of firms) in arts or software or creative services in 2019, provided that the MA did not have a specialization in tech sectors in 2013. Conversely, an MA was classified as an industrial base if it had a specialization (based on GCVA) in tech sectors in 2013 and displayed a specialization (based on the co-location of firms) in arts or software or creative services in 2019.

9. This pattern of co-location also happens in other developing countries. Lopes et al. (2019) explored the localization patterns of firms in Brazil and found that computing, law, accounting, architecture and engineering firms displayed a strong degree of concentration.

Additional information

Funding

This research was financed by Dirección General de Asuntos Académicos (DGAPA) of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) with Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica (PAPIIT) grants IN304017 and IN302521.