Creative industries during economic recession: the case of Riga

Against the backdrop of research and policy advocating the growth potential of creative industries’ sectors in advanced economies, this article examines the performance of creative industries during economic crisis in a less advanced European city-region: Riga in Latvia. It discusses the data on entrepreneurial activity, employment, turnover and value-added of creative industries relative to the economy on average between 2007 and 2010. The results show that creative industries as a whole underperform compared with the economy on average during recession, however not all subsectors show the same patterns. Hence, it is suggested that a more sector- and place-specific approach would benefit both policy-making and research dealing with the role of creative industries in economic development.