The Relationship Between "Creative Economy" and Productivity

U.S. author Richard Florida helps us identify this correlation. Florida recently published the ranking of the countries according to the measurement criterion of his creativity index.
In short, Florida established what he refers to as the three “T’s” of Creativity: Talents, Technology and Tolerance.

The first 20 countries on Florida’s ranking of Talents have a population in which 20% of the people dedicate themselves to activities related to the “Creative Economy”. The Talents index also calculates the percentage of the population with a university degree, the number of scientists, PhDs, and the like.

The Innovation index, also referred to as Technology, is measured by the percentage of investments in research and development and the number of patents per one million inhabitants.

In the first twenty positions in the ranking, the percentage of investments in Research and Development ranges from a minimum 1.11% (New Zealand) to a maximum of 4.27% of GDP (Sweden); in relation to patents, the United States ranks first by far, with 307 patents per one million inhabitants, followed by Japan with 261, Switzerland with 196 and Sweden with 196.
In relation to the third “T" – Tolerance, the study involves more subjective evaluations, obtained through research that measures, above all, a given society’s acceptance of the so-called ethnic and religious minorities, among others.

The Global Creativity Index defined according to the criteria above, ranks the following countries in the first 10 positions. This index was published in “The Flight of the Creative Class”:
1. Sweden
2. Japan
3. Finland
4. United States
5. Switzerland
6. Denmark
7. Iceland
8. Holland
9. Norway
10. Germany

Brazil ranks 43rd on this list of 45 countries, behind Uruguay, Poland, China, Argentina, Turkey, Chile, India and Mexico, and higher only than Peru and Romania.

The research study published in Professor Richard Florida’s “The Flight of the Creative Class” in April, 2005, was conducted by him and by Professor Irene Tinaglia. Both professors are from Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

The development of regions, cities and nations is related to the growth of the so-called “Creative Economy” and, consequently, to the number of talents resorted to by this economy.
It is interesting to see a cross study of the results of this research study and the results of the research study on productivity prepared by the industry association “Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo/ FIESP (the São Paulo State Federation of Industries) published by Folha de São Paulo newspaper on September 23, 2005, and included in an article written by Marcelo Billi. Below are some excerpts:

“Brazilian competitiveness is still low, as evidenced by the study prepared by FIESP (Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo). The research study analyzed data from 43 countries that together account for 95% of the world’s economy. Brazil ranked 39th on the list prepared by FIESP.

The 43 countries were divided into four groups. Countries with high productivity levels were classified in the group led by the United States. Denmark, which ranked 12th on the list, led the group of countries with satisfactory competitiveness levels. Countries such as Italy, China, Portugal, Russia and Argentina have average competitiveness levels. Finally, the group that Brazil is part of includes countries such as Chile (34th place) and Mexico (36th place)”.

Analyzing the five countries that were best positioned, the research study ranked these countries as follows: United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and Singapore. Interestingly, the highest ranking countries on the creativity list are as follows: Sweden, Japan, Finland, United States and Switzerland. This is no mere coincidence! There is a direct relationship between the educational level – the main link of the so-called “Creative Economy”, coupled, of course, with other factors - and a given economy’s productivity.

Reprinted from http://www.economiacriativa.com.br/ec/en/eventos/relacao.asp