EXPLORING THE LANDSCAPE OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: A FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE

Purpose - The creative industries comprise various subsectors distinct in terms of business models, profit orientation and growth prospects. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the industries, measuring and analysing the sub-sectors is difficult. To understand the specific subsectors and highlight their specific characteristics within each of the creative industries, this paper explores differences among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of asset, capital and liquidity structures. Methodology and design - The study is based on a data set from financial statements sourced from 8,088 SMEs within the creative industries in Croatia for year 2014. For research purposes, creative industries are clustered into eight subsectors: advertising, architecture, design, electronic media, film and video, music, publishing and press, software and video games. Based on a set of predominantly financial indicators selected from financial statements, the paper provides a comparative analysis of subsectors from creative industries in terms of their balance sheet structure. Findings - An analysis of the financial statements reveals more similarities than differences among subsectors of creative industries. The software and video games subsector appears to performance better and have the highest growth potential relative to all other subsectors. Originality of the research - The paper provides insights into the landscape of cultural and creative industries and explores the degree to which balance sheet structures are linked to the characteristics of each subsector within the creative industries.