CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: A SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE

The paper presents basic, empirically-grounded, overview of the current state of creative industries in the Czech Republic with particular emphasis on the principles of spatial differentiation. Creative industries are associated with their positive role in creating innovations and jobs as well as with their benefits for urban regeneration. The main aim of the text is to contribute for solving major existing problem with relatively weak empirical evidence of the topic of creative industries in the Czech Republic. Creative industries are defined using basic theoretical-methodological foundations followed by a brief outline of position of creative industries in the perspective of national economies of European countries. The core empirical analysis presented in the text draws on a unique data set compiled from the annual survey among the Czech-based firms in productive sectors in 2009 by the Czech Statistical Office. These data cover employment and financial indicators such as production, value added and wages disaggregated to particular industries according to NACE 2-digit classification. The first part of analyses findings using simple descriptive statistics and the second one uses multiple regression analysis to enhance the explanatory value of this text. There are also some basic conclusions for policy making implication for regional support of creative industries within the paper. The stress is put on necessity for spatial specification of policy making strategies. There is absolutely different position and role of the creative industries in metropolitan regions (and mainly in Prague) and in small regions or peripheral regions. Briefly, support and development of creative industries is not likely to be the remedy for all the regions in the Czech Republic.