José Manuel Amoedo Meijide (p), María del Carmen Sánchez-Carreira

Blanca de-Miguel-Molina

The creative industries are geographically concentrated on creative centres, usually known as creative cities or regions. Explanatory factors for this phenomenon are heterogeneous and they can be divided into five groups: the hard or classic factors, the deep structural factors, the factors linked to personal networks and roots in the territory, the factors linked to self-identity and the soft factors. The literature on this subject at the European level suggests that soft factors are of low relevance, but without specifying exactly how they play this role. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to study the role of soft factors in the concentration of creative industries. Specifically, the study attempts to test the following hypothesis: whether soft factors play a differentiating role among regions with similar levels of all the other factors. Thus, regions homogeneous in other factors but with higher levels of soft factors will tend to concentrate higher levels of creative industries.
The empirical analysis in this study is based on data for European regions obtained from Eurostat and the European Social Progress Index Database. The used methodology is divided into two phases. In the first phase, a cluster analysis is carried out with the aim of obtaining groups of regions that are similar in the levels of non-soft factors. Additionally, in order to improve the results obtained, a principal component analysis is used prior to the application of the cluster analysis. With the results obtained, a dummy variable is constructed for each group, which serves as a starting point to explain the concentration of the creative industries. In the second phase, three econometric models are estimated starting from the variables formed in the previous phase (model 1) and adding the soft factors (model 2), and the soft factors and spill-over effects (model 3).
The results support the hypothesis put forward in this study. Four groups of regions similar in other factors are obtained from the first phase. Econometric models show how soft factors are relevant to explain differences among homogeneous regions in other factors and complement group variables. Specifically, models 2 and 3 show how the explanatory power of the models is increased, especially by the positive effect of tolerance, a lower number of robberies and a higher presence of leisure in the region.

Ilaria Vincenza Calò (p), Valeria Greta Cofano, Snour Ahmadi, Diego Antonio Zullo, Maurizio Prosperi, Rosaria Viscecchia, Antonio Lopolito, Antonio Stasi

José Manuel Amoedo Meijide

This study activity aims to understand the innovative role of the creative industry (CI) in the elaboration and activation of strategies for Regional development by stakeholders involved in four different complex issues. The Creative Industry is an ever-evolving sector that plays a
relevant role in economic terms by fostering the interaction between various stakeholders in different agribusiness supply chains. In this regard, two of the four issues addressed refer to some of the main agri-food supply chains, namely the extra virgin olive oil supply chain and the tomato supply chain, while the other two address the main issues in the target area such as the reuse of purified wastewater and the management of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (CoDiRo strain). In this research, the Grounded Theory method was applied, an inductive methodology that provides a qualitative approach to data analysis, synthesis and conceptualization for the purpose of theory building. The application of this theory in the Living Labs (LLs) activity enabled
the observation and reflection of concepts raised in the discussions by stakeholders using three stages. The first phase consists of transcribing the data in order to bring out possible interpretive leads, the second on sampling and collecting data to identify salient themes and interpretive categories, and finally, the third on identifying relationships among the categories that emerged and identifying a core category around which to articulate the complete interpretive model of the study. Subsequently, an explanatory theory was developed for each of the 4 LLs conducted to highlight the critical factors underlying the topics covered in order to define useful strategies to be able to intervene on them. The activities developed with the LL Role Play methodology involved university students from various disciplines, cast in the roles of real actors in the agrifood supply chain, engaged in 4 sessions lasting about an hour and a half with the presence of a moderator. At the end of the activities, a questionnaire was administered, the contents of which, together with those that emerged during the discussion, were later elaborated to evince the role of the Creative Industry. The results showed that the CI, case by case, plays a versatile role by promoting information among stakeholders, product and territorial enhancement, and societal awareness. In conclusion, CI is able to address multiple complex socio-economic issues related to regional development strategies.

Etienne Capron (p), Patrick Cohendet, Laurent Simon

Ilaria Vincenza Calò

The creative industries are undergoing a profound digital transformation that is changing the way creations are produced, as new digital-based knowledge and skills need to be introduced (Benghozi et al., 2021; Sapsed & Tschang, 2014). Moreover, recent advances in artificial intelligence technologies may further disrupt these sectors: image and text generation, augmented and virtual reality, etc.

The case of Montréal (Canada) is exemplary for studying the dynamics of creative industries since the 1990s and fits well with mainstream definitions of creative cities (Stolarick & Florida, 2006). Montréal is home to several creative industries that have regularly succeeded in creating value from the interaction of art and technology. For example, in the live entertainment sector, the creative productions of Cirque du Soleil included as many engineers as artists. Other creative industries in the city were born in the digital age (e.g., video games, augmented reality) and others have been profoundly transformed by digital technologies (e.g., cinema, music).

The aim of this chapter is to understand how Montréal's creative industries have always managed to renew their innovative capacity through a virtuous interaction between art and technology. This virtuous interaction is all the more remarkable given that Montréal's technological knowledge base is not specifically more developed than that of other major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, etc.). The only digital domains in which Montréal is a leading region in Canada are video-games (Pilon & Tremblay, 2013; Cohendet et al., 2018) and AI (Sultana et al., 2023).

Based on the analysis of a group of organizations at the interface between art and technology, whose multiple roles contribute to bridging technical expertise with creative endeavors, and with a specific focus on organizations integrated into creative studios aiming at prototyping AI-based projects (e.g. La Forge/Ubisoft, Lab7/7Doigts de la main), one of the main results of our study is to highlight that intermediation mechanisms at the local level allow for cross-fertilization between art and technology, activating the geographical proximity and allowing creative industry organizations to renew themselves. Co-location alone is not a sufficient condition. Bridges need to be built and maintained in order for intermediaries to circulate ideas between social circles, places and events to stimulate encounters and foster new hybrid projects (Capron et al., 2022; Cohendet et al., 2010). Intermediation can be crucial for organizations to leverage local knowledge bases, especially when it comes to creating value from the interaction between two innovation ecosystems (arts and technology).

Blanca de-Miguel-Molina (p), María de-Miguel-Molina

Etienne Capron

The aim of this work is to conduct a literature review about women entrepreneurs in order to develop a theoretical framework that can be applied in the analysis of specific cases in Spain. To obtain the papers to include in the literature review, a search in the Web of Science database is conducted with the terms “women entrepreneur” AND “woman-owned” as Topics, that is, in title, abstract and keywords. The final works used in the literature review, after successive inclusions and exclusions, are 76 papers. Then, a text mining of abstracts is carried out to define codes grouped by categories. Cooccurrences of codes are analysed and clusters are obtained which are used to define nine different contexts. There is only one context that groups keywords related to high tech companies.