Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts
Volume 3, Issue 1
http://artivate.org
pp. 51-53
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BOOK REVIEW
Creative	
  Communities:	
  Art	
  Works	
  in	
  Economic	
  Development	
  
Michael	
  Rushton,	
  editor.	
  Foreword	
  by	
  Rocco	
  Landesman	
  
Review	
  by	
  Mark	
  A.	
  Hager,	
  Arizona	
  State	
  University	
  
	
  
	
  
Every	
  edited	
  volume	
  has	
  a	
  creation	
  story.	
  According	
  to	
  the	
  foreword	
  and	
  editor	
  
Michael	
  Rushton’s	
  introductory	
  chapter,	
  Creative	
  Communities	
  owes	
  its	
  origins	
  to	
  interests	
  
within	
  the	
  National	
  Endowment	
  for	
  the	
  Arts	
  (NEA)	
  to	
  bolster	
  research	
  and	
  theory	
  on	
  the	
  
economic	
  value	
  of	
  arts	
  and	
  culture	
  and	
  its	
  value	
  to	
  local	
  communities.	
  	
  This	
  led	
  to	
  a	
  May	
  
2012	
  Brookings	
  Institution	
  symposium,	
  and	
  ultimately	
  to	
  this	
  compendium	
  of	
  chapters.	
  	
  So,	
  
to	
  some	
  extent,	
  this	
  edited	
  volume	
  aggregates	
  people	
  who	
  were	
  at	
  the	
  right	
  place	
  at	
  the	
  
right	
  time,	
  raised	
  their	
  hands,	
  and	
  were	
  able	
  to	
  put	
  their	
  foot	
  forward.	
  
	
  
Rushton	
  does	
  an	
  admirable	
  job	
  of	
  laying	
  out	
  a	
  vision	
  for	
  the	
  volume.	
  The	
  NEA’s	
  
interests	
  are	
  clearly	
  articulated	
  by	
  former	
  chairman	
  Landesman’s	
  foreword:	
  engage	
  
economists	
  to	
  test	
  and	
  refine	
  a	
  pet	
  perspective	
  labeled	
  as	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory.	
  	
  Rushton	
  
oversells	
  this	
  volume	
  as	
  the	
  culmination	
  of	
  those	
  interests.	
  	
  Certainly,	
  it’s	
  a	
  great	
  vision:	
  a	
  
cohesive	
  volume	
  with	
  multiple	
  teams	
  plumbing	
  the	
  details	
  of	
  a	
  single	
  perspective	
  would	
  be	
  
a	
  welcome	
  and	
  potentially	
  landmark	
  achievement.	
  	
  I	
  think	
  that	
  the	
  volume	
  is	
  best	
  judged	
  
against	
  that	
  vision.	
  	
  	
  
	
  
Although	
  no	
  one	
  clearly	
  points	
  to	
  the	
  literature	
  of	
  this	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory,	
  Rushton	
  
points	
  vaguely	
  back	
  to	
  the	
  1980s	
  and	
  outlines	
  his	
  view	
  of	
  its	
  major	
  tenets.	
  	
  First,	
  it	
  is	
  an	
  
‘endogenous’	
  theory,	
  attributing	
  economic	
  change	
  to	
  controllable	
  forces,	
  such	
  as	
  
investments	
  and	
  policy	
  decisions.	
  	
  Second,	
  innovations	
  spill	
  over	
  to	
  other	
  firms	
  operating	
  in	
  
a	
  particular	
  field,	
  which	
  operates	
  as	
  an	
  incentive	
  for	
  innovators	
  to	
  cluster	
  and	
  glean	
  spill	
  
from	
  competitors.	
  	
  Third,	
  knowledge	
  and	
  innovation	
  are	
  durable	
  and	
  malleable,	
  making	
  
them	
  better	
  investments	
  than	
  physical	
  capital	
  and	
  labor	
  in	
  efforts	
  to	
  spur	
  economic	
  growth.	
  	
  
Are	
  these	
  tenets	
  generally	
  true?	
  	
  Can	
  they	
  help	
  us	
  measure,	
  understand,	
  and	
  maximize	
  the	
  
potential	
  of	
  arts	
  and	
  culture	
  to	
  communities?	
  
	
  
In	
  his	
  own	
  overview,	
  Rushton	
  suggests	
  relevant	
  topics	
  and	
  applications.	
  	
  Individuals	
  
trade	
  and	
  consume	
  artistic	
  goods,	
  potentially	
  creating	
  economic	
  value.	
  Spillovers	
  and	
  
clusters	
  may	
  explain	
  the	
  creation	
  or	
  location	
  of	
  cultural	
  producers.	
  	
  Arts	
  and	
  cultural	
  
production	
  may	
  attract	
  creative	
  talent,	
  who	
  may	
  in	
  turn	
  attract	
  the	
  innovative	
  talent	
  
necessary	
  to	
  develop	
  a	
  local	
  knowledge	
  economy.	
  	
  With	
  the	
  stage	
  effectively	
  set,	
  Rushton	
  
turns	
  to	
  his	
  contributors.	
  
	
  
While	
  I	
  cannot	
  speak	
  for	
  Rushton,	
  my	
  assessment	
  is	
  that	
  the	
  volume	
  does	
  not	
  
approach	
  the	
  vision	
  that	
  he	
  sets	
  for	
  it.	
  	
  Whether	
  it	
  might	
  meet	
  readers’	
  expectations	
  will	
  
likely	
  depend	
  on	
  what	
  they	
  want	
  out	
  of	
  the	
  volume.	
  	
  Regarding	
  the	
  state	
  of	
  the	
  art	
  in	
  
research	
  on	
  the	
  relationship	
  between	
  arts	
  and	
  community,	
  it	
  is	
  typical	
  of	
  an	
  edited	
  volume:	
  
uneven,	
  uncoordinated,	
  though	
  occasionally	
  brilliant.	
  	
  Regarding	
  the	
  vision	
  of	
  New	
  Growth	
  
Theory	
  as	
  a	
  guiding	
  light	
  for	
  research	
  on	
  the	
  value	
  of	
  arts	
  in	
  community,	
  the	
  various	
  
contributors	
  seem	
  barely	
  aware	
  of	
  it.	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
	
  
Though	
  self-­‐contained	
  and	
  disconnected,	
  I	
  should	
  say	
  that	
  each	
  of	
  the	
  chapters	
  in	
  
the	
  volume	
  are	
  interesting	
  in	
  their	
  own	
  right.	
  	
  Contributions	
  to	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory	
  aside,	
  
there	
  are	
  good	
  reasons	
  why	
  each	
  team	
  was	
  invited	
  to	
  the	
  Brookings	
  symposium	
  and	
  why	
  
each	
  was	
  ultimately	
  invited	
  into	
  the	
  Creative	
  Communities	
  volume.	
  	
  Schuetz	
  gets	
  the	
  first	
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2013, the author

Hager
Book review: Creativity and Entrepreneurship
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

substantive	
  chapter	
  with	
  her	
  study	
  of	
  art	
  galleries	
  in	
  Manhattan.	
  	
  One	
  wonders	
  why	
  it	
  
occurs	
  to	
  her	
  to	
  examine	
  whether	
  commercial	
  art	
  galleries	
  might	
  influence	
  neighborhood	
  
and	
  physical	
  development,	
  except	
  that	
  the	
  question	
  generally	
  fits	
  in	
  with	
  the	
  themes	
  of	
  
Creative	
  Communities.	
  The	
  theoretical	
  underpinnings	
  are	
  uncertain,	
  and	
  she	
  gives	
  no	
  lip	
  
service	
  to	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory.	
  	
  She	
  reports	
  no	
  particular	
  effects	
  of	
  physical	
  redevelopment	
  
that	
  might	
  be	
  attributed	
  to	
  the	
  presence	
  of	
  art	
  galleries,	
  which	
  is	
  the	
  upshot	
  of	
  her	
  fine	
  
study.	
  Attention	
  to	
  the	
  clustering	
  of	
  galleries	
  might	
  have	
  established	
  an	
  anchoring	
  to	
  
Rushton’s	
  themes,	
  but	
  the	
  chapter	
  instead	
  serves	
  as	
  notice	
  that	
  contributors	
  could	
  go	
  their	
  
own	
  way	
  without	
  necessarily	
  immersing	
  in	
  or	
  extending	
  those	
  themes.	
  
	
  
On	
  the	
  other	
  hand,	
  articulation	
  of	
  theory	
  is	
  central	
  to	
  at	
  least	
  the	
  opening	
  sections	
  of	
  
the	
  next	
  chapter,	
  by	
  Markusen,	
  Nicodemus,	
  and	
  Barbour.	
  	
  They	
  advocate	
  bringing	
  
‘consumption’	
  into	
  economic	
  (or	
  export)	
  base	
  theory.	
  	
  For	
  me,	
  some	
  of	
  these	
  ideas	
  already	
  
underlay	
  the	
  economic	
  impact	
  studies	
  that	
  Rushton	
  is	
  dismissive	
  of	
  in	
  Chapter	
  1,	
  although	
  
the	
  authors	
  do	
  not	
  suggest	
  that	
  kind	
  of	
  connection.	
  	
  More	
  arts	
  might	
  foster	
  arts	
  
consumption.	
  The	
  labor-­‐intensive	
  nature	
  of	
  arts	
  and	
  cultural	
  work	
  might	
  result	
  in	
  more	
  
local	
  spending.	
  	
  Arts	
  activity	
  might	
  attract	
  more	
  non-­‐arts	
  creatives.	
  	
  Despite	
  the	
  interesting	
  
empirical	
  work	
  here,	
  I	
  came	
  away	
  with	
  two	
  critiques:	
  one,	
  the	
  analysis	
  seemed	
  to	
  call	
  for	
  
the	
  input-­‐output	
  analyses	
  common	
  in	
  economic	
  impact	
  studies,	
  but	
  that	
  connection	
  is	
  not	
  
made;	
  two,	
  the	
  connections	
  to	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory	
  are	
  not	
  made,	
  despite	
  the	
  softball	
  
opportunities	
  to	
  do	
  so.	
  	
  	
  
	
  
The	
  next	
  two	
  chapters	
  have	
  less	
  pretention	
  to	
  theory.	
  	
  Maloney	
  and	
  Wassall	
  are	
  
interested	
  in	
  cultural	
  economic	
  development	
  initiatives	
  at	
  the	
  municipal	
  level.	
  	
  Such	
  policy	
  
action	
  might	
  have	
  endogenous	
  influence	
  on	
  community	
  economic	
  development,	
  and	
  
therefore	
  implications	
  for	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory,	
  but	
  that	
  chapter	
  does	
  not	
  go	
  there.	
  	
  Rather,	
  
the	
  chapter	
  stands	
  alone	
  as	
  a	
  descriptive	
  case	
  study	
  of	
  a	
  Massachusetts	
  initiative.	
  	
  A	
  couple	
  
thousand	
  miles	
  away	
  stands	
  another	
  policy	
  initiative,	
  Denver’s	
  Scientific	
  and	
  Cultural	
  
Facilities	
  District,	
  and	
  the	
  topic	
  of	
  Schmitz’s	
  study.	
  	
  Do	
  the	
  district’s	
  organizations	
  have	
  
revenue	
  advantages	
  over	
  organizations	
  outside	
  it?	
  	
  Apparently	
  not.	
  Does	
  support	
  of	
  these	
  
organizations	
  result	
  in	
  crowding	
  in	
  or	
  crowding	
  out	
  of	
  other	
  kinds	
  of	
  support?	
  	
  Apparently	
  
not.	
  	
  Might	
  the	
  spillover	
  of	
  innovations	
  clustered	
  in	
  a	
  cultural	
  district	
  be	
  a	
  better	
  topic	
  for	
  a	
  
volume	
  on	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory?	
  Apparently	
  not.	
  
	
  
Chapter	
  6,	
  by	
  Root-­‐Bernstein	
  and	
  seven	
  co-­‐authors,	
  is	
  the	
  best	
  reason	
  to	
  pick	
  up	
  
Creative	
  Communities.	
  	
  Like	
  other	
  chapters,	
  it	
  generally	
  eschews	
  the	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory	
  
vision	
  promoted	
  by	
  the	
  NEA	
  and	
  Rushton.	
  	
  Nonetheless,	
  its	
  topic	
  and	
  discussions	
  are	
  most	
  
relevant	
  to	
  it,	
  and	
  perhaps	
  ultimately	
  most	
  critical	
  of	
  it.	
  	
  They	
  ask	
  seemingly	
  innocuous	
  
questions	
  about	
  who	
  is	
  entrepreneurial	
  and	
  who	
  is	
  innovative,	
  and	
  how	
  such	
  
characteristics	
  translate	
  into	
  scientific	
  and	
  cultural	
  clusters	
  of	
  innovation.	
  	
  Their	
  empirical	
  
work	
  centers	
  on	
  the	
  relationship	
  between	
  STEM	
  (science,	
  technology,	
  engineering,	
  math)	
  
impresarios	
  and	
  their	
  attitude	
  toward	
  arts	
  and	
  culture.	
  	
  Their	
  discussion	
  (starting	
  on	
  page	
  
112)	
  of	
  the	
  complex	
  relationship	
  between	
  STEM	
  and	
  the	
  arts	
  is	
  the	
  most	
  theoretically	
  
relevant	
  discussion	
  of	
  the	
  entire	
  volume,	
  especially	
  considering	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory’s	
  
reported	
  concern	
  for	
  how	
  arts	
  creatives	
  might	
  attract	
  non-­‐arts	
  innovators.	
  	
  The	
  criticism,	
  
however,	
  comes	
  from	
  Root-­‐Bernstein	
  et	
  al.’s	
  observations	
  that	
  relationships	
  are	
  complex,	
  
slow	
  to	
  develop,	
  and	
  fraught	
  with	
  uncertainty:	
  a	
  stark	
  reminder	
  that	
  the	
  social	
  world	
  rarely	
  
boils	
  neatly	
  down	
  to	
  a	
  page	
  or	
  two	
  of	
  theoretical	
  principles.	
  
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Artivate 3 (1)

52

Hager
Book review: Creativity and Entrepreneurship
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

	
  
	
  
Noonan	
  and	
  Breznitz’s	
  chapter	
  feels	
  much	
  like	
  the	
  two	
  preceding	
  the	
  richer	
  Chapter	
  
6.	
  	
  It	
  is	
  an	
  empirical	
  study	
  of	
  universities	
  and	
  arts	
  districts	
  grounded	
  in	
  the	
  hypothesis	
  that	
  
universities	
  should	
  foster	
  innovation	
  and	
  arts	
  districts	
  support	
  the	
  culture	
  associated	
  with	
  
economic	
  expansion.	
  	
  Economic	
  growth	
  is	
  measured	
  by	
  employment	
  share	
  and	
  patents.	
  	
  
However,	
  these	
  scholars	
  report	
  little	
  influence	
  of	
  universities	
  and	
  arts	
  districts	
  on	
  these	
  
measures.	
  	
  The	
  implications	
  for	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory	
  might	
  be	
  profound,	
  but	
  are	
  left	
  
unexplored.	
  	
  Rather,	
  and	
  like	
  Root-­‐Berenstein	
  et	
  al.,	
  they	
  point	
  to	
  the	
  complexity	
  of	
  the	
  
relationships	
  and	
  the	
  inability	
  for	
  crude	
  analytical	
  tools	
  to	
  discern	
  them.	
  	
  If	
  only	
  somebody	
  
would	
  lay	
  down	
  a	
  specific	
  theoretical	
  perspective	
  and	
  organize	
  scholarship	
  around	
  that	
  
perspective,	
  maybe	
  we	
  could	
  make	
  progress	
  on	
  those	
  fronts.	
  
	
  
To	
  Kushner’s	
  credit,	
  his	
  chapter	
  8	
  at	
  least	
  mentions	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory.	
  	
  The	
  
interesting	
  empirical	
  analysis,	
  however,	
  develops	
  at	
  the	
  periphery	
  of	
  the	
  vision	
  outlined	
  by	
  
Rushton.	
  	
  Rather	
  than	
  considering	
  the	
  central	
  question	
  of	
  the	
  value	
  of	
  the	
  arts	
  to	
  
community,	
  this	
  chapter	
  asks	
  how	
  different	
  community	
  characteristics	
  influence	
  the	
  
development	
  of	
  arts	
  organizations.	
  	
  Kushner	
  hypothesizes	
  that	
  cultural	
  expenditures,	
  
cultural	
  participation,	
  and	
  overall	
  community	
  capacity	
  will	
  influence	
  enterprise	
  formation,	
  
and	
  his	
  county-­‐level	
  analysis	
  bears	
  this	
  out.	
  	
  This	
  chapter	
  features	
  what	
  appears	
  to	
  be	
  the	
  
best	
  data	
  in	
  the	
  volume.	
  	
  	
  
	
  
However,	
  the	
  title	
  of	
  most	
  sophisticated	
  data	
  analysis	
  falls	
  to	
  Pedroni	
  and	
  Sheppard	
  
who	
  ask	
  a	
  deceptively	
  simple	
  question:	
  does	
  arts	
  and	
  culture	
  production	
  result	
  in	
  more	
  
permanent	
  increases	
  in	
  local	
  economic	
  growth?	
  	
  That	
  is,	
  is	
  it	
  more	
  lasting	
  than	
  other	
  kinds	
  
of	
  economic	
  production?	
  	
  Their	
  answer:	
  yes.	
  	
  However,	
  this	
  interesting	
  finding	
  seems	
  more	
  
relevant	
  to	
  the	
  economic	
  impact	
  arguments	
  that	
  Rushton	
  rushes	
  by	
  rather	
  than	
  the	
  New	
  
Growth	
  Theory	
  that	
  supposedly	
  frames	
  the	
  volume.	
  
	
  
The	
  final	
  chapter	
  falls	
  to	
  Bakhshi,	
  Lee,	
  and	
  Mateos-­‐Garcia’s	
  atheoretical	
  exploration	
  
of	
  the	
  relationship	
  between	
  arts	
  and	
  cultural	
  activity	
  and	
  local	
  economic	
  performance.	
  	
  
They	
  do	
  make	
  efforts	
  to	
  situate	
  their	
  work	
  in	
  the	
  volume,	
  characterizing	
  local	
  cultural	
  
activity	
  as	
  “clustering,”	
  and	
  referring	
  to	
  the	
  potential	
  of	
  innovation	
  spillovers.	
  	
  However,	
  
rather	
  than	
  advancing	
  these	
  ideas,	
  these	
  references	
  merely	
  provide	
  context	
  for	
  an	
  
empirical	
  contribution.	
  	
  Like	
  so	
  many	
  other	
  findings	
  in	
  preceding	
  chapters,	
  results	
  are	
  
mixed.	
  	
  We	
  leave	
  the	
  chapter	
  uncertain	
  of	
  the	
  potential	
  relationship	
  between	
  arts	
  activity	
  
and	
  prevailing	
  wages.	
  	
  We	
  turn	
  the	
  page,	
  hopeful	
  of	
  a	
  more	
  fruitful	
  ending,	
  perhaps	
  final	
  
thoughts	
  from	
  Rushton	
  on	
  the	
  volume’s	
  contributions.	
  
	
  
But	
  the	
  curtain	
  falls	
  instead,	
  all	
  index	
  and	
  silence.	
  	
  What’s	
  left	
  is	
  my	
  critique	
  of	
  the	
  
volume:	
  two	
  familiar	
  conclusions.	
  	
  One,	
  this	
  is	
  a	
  handsome	
  collection	
  of	
  interesting	
  studies.	
  	
  
Two,	
  they	
  do	
  not	
  add	
  up,	
  do	
  not	
  turn	
  on	
  or	
  advance	
  New	
  Growth	
  Theory,	
  do	
  not	
  give	
  sum	
  to	
  
the	
  vision	
  for	
  why	
  they	
  are	
  brought	
  together	
  in	
  this	
  volume	
  to	
  begin	
  with.	
  They	
  are	
  floats	
  at	
  
a	
  parade,	
  winding	
  by	
  one	
  after	
  another,	
  separate	
  and	
  independently	
  adorned.	
  

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Artivate 3 (1)

53