“Cultural Industries” in Sweden: An Assessment of their Place in the Swedish Economy

Abstract

This article attempts to define and measure cultural industries in Sweden. It starts with a discussion of the definition and delineation of the term “cultural industries,” arguing that a large range of goods and services can be considered culture industry products and that it is important to place the production and exchange of such products in the context of an industrial systems approach. The concept is then operationalized using Swedish data on employment and the activity of firms. The results suggest that the overall growth in both employment and the number of firms has been especially strong in the cultural industries. However, the number of active firms has been growing at a much faster pace than employment in these industries, indicating a quickly changing business environment. With regard to regional dimensions, Swedish cultural industries have a strong attraction to urban areas but an even stronger propensity to agglomerate. It is suggested that the spatial dynamics observed may be key to the development of the industries’ competencies and success. In summary, the article presents the results of an extensive data analysis that found that cultural industries make an important contribution to the Swedish economy and labor market. It concludes by suggesting issues that need further quantitative and qualitative study.