Innovation in the European creative industries: a firm-level empirical approach

This paper explores the innovative performance of firms active in the creative industries (CIs). It identifies potential differentials in various innovation indicators between CI and non-CI young firms and examines drivers of the innovative performance of firms in the creative sectors. Our findings suggest that firms in the CIs outperform those in non-CIs both in terms of product innovation and R&D intensity, but not in terms of process and organisational innovation. Empirical analysis also suggests that the human capital of the founders as well as specific firm characteristics play a significant role in the innovative activity of firms in the CIs.