Is Creative Economy in Croatia a Myth or Reality? Some Evidence on the Impact of Creativity on Regional Economic Growth

The objective of this paper is to explore the intraregional and interregional relationships between employment of creative individuals in creative industries and the economic growth of Croatian regions. Spatial panel analysis is applied to assess the interregional effects of regional growth as well as interregional and intraregional effects of cultural and creative industries on economic growth in 2006-2012. While there is empirical evidence of positive interregional economic growth effects, the contribution of the creative potential to the growth of Croatian regions is found to be negative. These findings can be explained by overall modest representation of creative industries, particularly in faster growing regions, and the growth impediments imposed on creative industries by Croatian producers that mostly compete in standardized price-competitive segments of the market.