The spatial pattern of creative industries in a transformation economy: The case of Slovakia

Abstract

This paper analyses the spatial pattern of creative industry firms in Slovakia and its evolution since the transformation from a planning to a market economy. We use micro-level data about creative industry firms that give the exact location of these firms in addition to other characteristics. This allows for the application of point pattern and of count data analyses. The empirical investigation shows that despite of the country's heritage as a transition economy, creative industries in Slovakia behave very similarly to those in other countries and confirm the main hypotheses of the literature. The firms are strongly concentrated in the larger cities, particularly in Bratislava. This concentration differs between sector categories, with business services showing the most concentrated pattern. As far as the evolution of the pattern is concerned, new firms show a significantly less concentrated spatial pattern than the older firms. Nevertheless, the pattern is still concentrated in the larger cities.