It Takes a Village: A Test of the Creative Class, Social Capital, and Human Capital Theories

Richard Florida argues that the "creative class" is inextricably connected with surges in urban growth. This article, using data from 276 metropolitan statistical areas, empirically tests the creative class theory as compared to the human and social capital models of economic growth. Our results demonstrate that the creative class is not related to growth, whereas human capital predicts economic growth and development and social capital predicts average wage but not job growth. Additionally, we found that clusters of universities correlated highly with economic growth. Our findings should warn policy makers against the use of "creative" strategies for urban economic development.