ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The role of creative economy in Slovak Republic

Katarina Petrikova • Anna Vanova •

Kamila Borsekova

Received: 20 February 2013 / Accepted: 6 August 2013

� Springer-Verlag London 2013

Abstract The aim of the paper is to analyse and evaluate

the situation in the field of creative economy in the Slovak

Republic on the level NUTS 3. The analysis is based on the

Euro-creative index calculation for year 2009. Based on the

discussion of the research results, the weaknesses of the

calculation and current state of the Slovak creative econ-

omy were identified. Conclusions include the proposal of

activities how to attract and maintain the talented, creative

people, so-called creative class in the regions. In the the-

oretical part of the paper, we characterise the creative

economy and its importance in the current global world

based on knowledge of the most famous experts dealing

with the issue of creative economy and its measurement. In

the research part of the paper, based on the analysis results

(Euro-creative index calculation), we characterise the cur-

rent position of creative economy in Slovak regions, the

regional disparities among Slovak regions in context of

creative economy and the possibilities for increasing the

exploitation of creative potential in the Slovak regions.

Keywords Creative economy � Creativity �Euro-creative index � Region � Creative industries

1 Introduction

A trend in the most developed economies is a shift from

industrial economics to economics of knowledge, infor-

mation, and it is well known as the economics of creativ-

ity—creative economy (Howkins 2001; Florida 2002;

Evans 2001, 2009; Hesmondhalgh and Pratt 2005; Hutton

2004; Pratt 2004, 2005).

The main components of the creative economy are cre-

ative industries based on creativity. Human creativity and

new ideas are the mover of the economic and especially

innovation development. Creativity as a psychological

activity, using non-traditional approaches and divergent

thinking, is often associated with originality, inventions and

new ways of addressing issues. The framing, nurturing and

ethical and sustainable exploitation of human creativity have

become a key focus for economic development linking it to

concepts around innovation, design and entrepreneurship.

The importance and role of creativity and innovations for the

economy have been highlighted by the European Union in

strategic documents, for example, ‘‘The Treaty of Lisbon

and Strategy of EU 2020’’. To achieve the key aims of the

European Union by 2020, three main priorities were iden-

tified, namely smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Seven incentives that support the progress of each priority

were furthermore identified. Smart growth should broaden

the values of the EU through growth based on knowledge

using education, research, innovations and creativity. This is

why the ambitions of the EU are aimed at the strengthening

of knowledge and innovations, based on creativity,

improving the education system, research, supporting and

spreading innovations and knowledge, thus transforming

ideas into new products and services (European Commission

2007, 2010c). Creativity can provide a source of economic

and social resilience in times of economic downturn. Con-

sider the situation in the USA in November 2008, where the

unemployment rate was nearly 9.4 % while unemployment

in the creative sector was significantly lower (Suciu and

Ivanovici 2009).

The creative industries and its share on the overall

growth of economics on GDP are currently gaining ever

K. Petrikova (&) � A. Vanova � K. Borsekova

University of Matej Bel, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

e-mail: katarina.petrikova@umb.sk

123

AI & Soc

DOI 10.1007/s00146-013-0508-5

more significance. The development of the creative

industries requires educated consumers and an educated

labour force, which means, people who have a high level of

cultural and aesthetic values. The industry is developing

where the environment is friendly, open and free. One can

argue that the development of the creative sector brings

with it freedom, equality between people, and strengthen-

ing of cultural and aesthetic perceptions.

The paper aims to analyse the situation in the field of

creative industries based on the calculation of Euro-crea-

tive index in the Slovak Republic at the regional level for

year 2009. Nowadays, the detail analysis of creative sector

in the Slovak Republic absents, so the potential useful for

the regional development is unlocked too. The paper shows

the strengths and weaknesses of the current situation in the

field of creative industries in the Slovak Republic and its

developing and offers the list of proposals how to support

and activate this idle potential.

In conditions of Slovak Republic, it is very important to

pay attention to this topic, because of two main reasons.

There are significant gaps (institutional, legislative) related

with creative economy and creative industries in Slovak

regions on one side, and on the other side, there is a huge

potential for building the creative economy and industries

based on exploitation of existing creative class in Slovakia

and its regions.

2 Creative economy

Human creativity has become the motivating force of

economic development in the world. It is a process of

generating ideas, expressions and forms, either when

looking for new ways of tackling existing problems, of re-

interpreting existing realities, or searching for new oppor-

tunities (Council of EU 2009). There are several types of

creativity which are closely interconnected: technological

(or invention), economical (entrepreneurship) and cultural

creativity. Without creative thinking and actions, there

would be no evolution or development. The external results

of creativity are innovations (Kloudova and Stehlikova

2009).

The roots of creative economy are found in the knowl-

edge economy, but the main point of creative economy is

human creativity producing ideas, the realisation of which

initiates a production characterised by high added value

and marked economic growth (Howkins 2001). The crea-

tive economy can be understood as a new evolutionary

stage of the knowledge economy (Florida 2002).

The creative economy is defined as industries that have

their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent, and

which have a potential for wealth and job creation through

generation of ideas, products and/or services (The Office of

Cultural Affairs and Special Events 2010). The creative

economy has the potential to generate income and jobs

through promoting social inclusion, cultural diversity and

human development (Deisbury and Basu 2010). It embra-

ces economic, cultural and social aspects interacting with

technology, intellectual property and tourism objectives. It

is a set of knowledge-based economic activities with a

development dimension and cross-cutting linkages at

macro- and microlevels to the overall economy. It is a

feasible development option calling for innovative, multi-

disciplinary policy responses and interministerial action. At

the heart of the creative economy are the creative industries

(UNCTAD 2010).

According to (Wiesand and Sondermann 2005), creative

economy is, from the industrial point of view, divided into

commercial, public and informal. Advertising and mar-

keting, broadcasting, film industry, Internet and mobile

content industry, music industry, electronic publishing and

printing, video and computer games belong to the heavily

industrialised activities. Less industrialised activities are

museums and library services, visual arts (painting and

sculpture) and performing arts. Other creative activities

are, for instance, craft industry, fashion and the design

industry.

Development of a creative sector can mean a new

dimension and source for the territorial development that

brings new forms of innovations, creativity, partnerships

and networking. To develop creative economy success-

fully, it is necessary to know the region and to support key

creative economy factors: the leadership and participation,

awareness and education, infrastructure, investments and

policy (Hamilton et al. 2009).

Recent studies (Florida 2002, 2005, Florida et al. 2006;

Gertler and Vinodrai 2004; Wu 2005) focus on different

aspects of the relations between creativity and university

on the regional level. They emphasise that knowledge

production is territorially based. Creative industries tend to

cluster in large regions that offer a variety of economic

opportunities, a stimulating environment and amenities for

different lifestyles (Wu 2005). ‘‘The university comprises a

potential—and, in some places, actual—creative hub that

sits at the centre of regional development’’ (Florida et al.

2006, p. 20). It means that the most important part of the

territorial potential for the creative economy has an inno-

vation potential represented by universities, research cen-

tres, culture institutions, art, entertainment, civil initiatives

and so on (Vanova 2006).

Cultural and creative industries, which flourish at local

and regional levels, are in a strategic position to link cre-

ativity and innovation. They can help to boost local

economies, stimulate new activities, create new and sus-

tainable jobs, have important spill over effects on other

industries and enhance the attractiveness of regions and

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cities. Creative industries are therefore catalysts for a

structural change in many industrial zones and rural areas

with the potential to revive their economies and contribute

to a change in the regions’ public image. They should be

integrated into regional development strategies in order to

ensure an effective partnership between civil society,

businesses and public authorities at the regional, national

and European levels (European Commission 2010a).

Without direct involvement and participation all of these

subjects, it is not possible to talk about the sustainable and

market-oriented development of territory (Vanova et al.

2010).

The reason for being concerned with the creative

economy at the different territorial levels follows from the

fact that cities and urban areas have always been places

where human creativity flourished. Here, not just the

world’s great art and fundamental advances in human

thought originated, but also the great technological break-

throughs that created new industries and even entire new

models of production. Ever since cities became large and

complex enough to present problems of urban manage-

ment, they also became urban laboratories, the places that

developed the solutions—technological, organisational,

legal and social—to their own problems of growth (Hall

2010).

The new approach to the development of economy

centres in territories leads to form creative cities and cre-

ative clusters. The creative city is an urban complex where

cultural activities of various sorts are an integral part of the

functioning of the city’s economic and social life, and

include intellectual capital applied to products, processes

and services (Deisbury and Basu 2010).

In the creative cities and creative clusters, the important

elements are local and regional governments and their

approach to the management and policy. Local and regio-

nal governments play a vital role as they are in the position

to provide an attractive place for creative professionals to

live and work, as well as developing a supportive regula-

tory environment that encourages sustainable creative

industries (Brecknock 2004). Through participation of

government at all levels, the social conditions, represen-

tation, labour market and employment for creative people,

together with living and residential environments, ameni-

ties, clusters and incubators, in the creative territories are

developed and built, including the potential effects of

social and economic displacement (Deisbury and Basu

2010; Romein and Trip 2008).

Creative cities and regions are areas where sharing of

knowledge and experience takes place relatively free of

limitations. Creative cities and regions share some key

features. They (1) enable and promote interaction and

openness at all levels, (2) they promote innovative cluster

interactions that might lead to unexpected synergies and

outcomes and (3) they encourage creative universities and

their partnerships with other innovative clusters (Ozsoy

et al. 2006). Great Britain is a pioneer in aiming to estab-

lish at least conceptualising creative clusters. An example

of good practices is a project of NESTA, in which the

creative cluster was established containing nine identified

creative ‘‘hotspots’’ across the UK, apart from London

(Bath, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Guildford,

Manchester, Oxford, Slough and Wycombe) (NESTA

2010).

‘‘To be successful, integrated development strategies

should be defined at relevant territorial levels, in partner-

ship between the authorities in charge of the different

public policies (such as economic development, employ-

ment, education and culture) and the representatives from

the civil society, namely business, workers and citizens

associations. Exchange of best practice is crucial, and all

possible networks across Europe should be utilised to

facilitate knowledge and capacity transfer between areas

lagging behind and growth centres’’ (European Commis-

sion 2010b).

In connection with development of creative economy,

Florida (2002) defined a new class of workers as a creative

class. The distinguishing characteristic of the creative class

is that its members engage in work whose function is to

‘‘create meaningful new forms’’. The super-creative core of

this new class includes scientists and engineers, university

professors, poets and novelists, artists, entertainers, actors,

designers and architects, as well as the ‘‘thought leader-

ship’’ of a modern society, namely non-fiction writers,

editors, cultural figures, think-tank researchers, analysts

and together with other opinion-makers. The super-creative

core creates new forms or designs that are readily trans-

ferable and broadly useful, such as designing a product that

have broad appeal; coming up with a theory or strategy that

can be applied in many cases; or composing music that can

be performed again and again. Beyond this core group, the

creative class also includes ‘‘creative professionals’’ who

work in a wide range of knowledge-intensive industries

such as high-tech sectors, financial services, the legal and

healthcare professions and business management. These

people engage in creative problem-solving, drawing on

complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.

They apply or combine standard approaches in unique

ways to fit the situation, exercise a great deal of judgment

and are prone to try out radically new approaches.

Richard Florida, together with co-workers, has also been

deeply interested in measuring the creativity of individual

geographical areas or cities. In 2002, they created a crea-

tivity index based on four key components: creative class

concentration, the high technology index, the innovation

index and the diversity index. The creative capital theory

says that ‘‘regional growth comes from the 3Ts of

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economics development and to spur innovation and eco-

nomic growth a region must have all three of them’’

(Florida 2003, p. 11).

There appeared the numerous critiques of Florida

approach, because the theory does not respect if it fits to the

specific regional and urban settings or not (Asheim and

Hansen 2009). So later Florida and Tinagli extended the

concepts and indicators of the creativity index. They

developed a new indicator for the creative class and com-

petitiveness based on the 3Ts of economic development,

that is, technology, talent and tolerance, for 14 European

and Scandinavian countries and compared them with the

USA. The structure of creative index 3T illustrates Table 1.

Richard Florida’s thesis on tolerance in the creative

class has led some researchers to consider the extent to

which the creative industries are inclusive and accepting of

minorities and minority points of view. This is based on the

perception that creativity is both driven by and open to

talent and is unlikely to be bound by prejudices such as

race, gender or sexuality. This has led some to discuss how

the development of the creative industries has been pre-

sented as a response to social exclusion by encouraging the

participation of those from traditionally excluded groups

(Oakley 2006).

The Euro-creativity index was further developed by

many European experts. It combined the creative class

index with two other talent measures to build an overall

Euro-Talent Index. In addition to the creative class index,

the Euro-Talent Index includes two subindices: the human

capital index, based on the percentage of the population

aged 25–64 years with a Bachelor’s degree or above (i.e. at

least 3 years), and the scientific talent index, based on the

number of research scientists and engineers per thousand

workers (Florida and Tinagli 2004). The Table 2 presents

the structure of Euro-creativity index.

For example, by Bobirca and Draghici, it was applied in

calculation of creativity index in countries of European

Union, and especially in Romania (2011), in Italy (Florida

and Tinagli 2006). The index was improved also by Eu-

rostat to the form of new creative index that solves the

insufficiencies of the previous models, which did support

the theoretical development of the creative economy. The

major insufficiencies concerned the low amount of

observed data, the impossibility to make use of the model

for smaller regional units, as well as the non-existence of

the needed data. The advantage of this model is its database

which arises out of the already being carried out urban

audits by Eurostat which is a guarantee of unified, mea-

surable data for all European countries (Kloudova and

Chwaszcz 2011).

Beside these approaches, the own or customised meth-

odology of creativity index calculation was developed by

various expert groups in the world, e. g. Flemish Index and

Hong Kong creativity index. The Flemish Index is used for

benchmark regional innovations, and it is established on

the principles of Euro-Creativity Index of Florida and Ti-

nagli. The Hong Kong Creativity Index was developed by

the Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region Government published in Novem-

ber 2004 (A study on Hong Kong Creativity Index,

November 2004). There exist also special cultural indexes

as Finnish report that is known as a composite index of the

creative economy by Bowen and Moesen (Bowen et al.

2006) and innovation indexes as ES or Oslo Manual used

for assessment of cultural life and measuring the involve-

ment of the culture sector in the information society (Picard

et al. 2003). Each approach reflects the special features of

the territories where it is implemented.

Table 1 Creativity index 3T

Talent index

Human capital

index

% of population with the university degree

Creative Class

index

Concentration of creative class

Technology index

Innovation index Number of patents per person

High-tech index % of high-tech industry outputs on the whole

outputs

Tolerance index

Gay index Number of gays on the population of region

Bohemian index Art—oriented population in region

Immigration

index

% of immigrants in region

Source Florida 2002

Table 2 Euro—creativity index

Euro—Talent index

Human capital

index

% of population with the university degree

Creative Class

index

Share of the creative employment

Scientific Talent

index

Number of researchers and engineers per

1,000 workers

Euro—Technology index

Innovation index Number of patents per 1,000,000 inhabitants

High-tech

innovation index

Number of patents in high-tech area per

1,000,000 inhabitants

R&D index % of R&D expenses on GDP

Euro—Tolerance index

Stance index % of tolerant people against minorities

Value index Reflection of tradition in human values

Self-expression

index

Approach to the individual rights and

expressions

Source Florida 2002

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In the analysis of Slovak creative potential, we use

the combination of creative index calculations and

methodology proposed for the creativity index in Czech

Republic by Jitka Kloudova, Slovak and Czech expert of

creative economy theory. She modified the creativity

index of Florida (Florida and Gates 2001) for the social

and economic conditions of Czech Republic. The crea-

tivity index consists of 3T—tolerance, technology and

talent for the each region. She simplified the index

because of the unavailability of some statistical data

(Kloudova 2009).

Because of the fact that the Slovak Republic has the

same historical roots as Czech Republic, they were parts of

the same state until 1993, so the social and economic

conditions, also the availability of statistical data, are very

similar. In Slovakia, there is lack of data monitoring cre-

ative class and creative workers, as well as insufficient

measurement of creative industries, their share on GDP,

employment and benefits for national and regional econo-

mies and their growth. Because of these reasons, we

assume that the best way how to calculate the creativity

index for Slovak regions is to use the methodology of Jitka

Kloudova applied in Czech Republic, who had to face the

similar problems and gaps as we do.

3 Methods and hypotheses

In the theoretical part of the paper, we gathered the

available domestic and foreign scientific and professional

literature. We have used the methods of scientific

abstraction, synthesis, comparison and analysis.

In the analytical part, we calculate the creativity index

of Slovak Republic based on the methodology of Jitka

Kloudova. The data used in the research were provided by

the Slovak Statistical Office and Eurostat. They report the

situation in Slovak Republic in year 2009. The analysis is

realised on the regional level (the Slovak Republic con-

sists of eight regions, see p. 6), the lowest possible level

because of data availability. Respecting the current situ-

ation in the field of creative potential in regions, we

suggest the list of proposals how to support and initiate

the creative potential because of its great potential for

economic development and the missing conceptual

approach to do it.

The research results (Euro-Talent Index) have been

processed by methods of descriptive statistics and indexes.

The data were processed by the Excel and SPSS program.

Based on the analysis results, we evaluate the current sit-

uation, we identify the disparities among the Slovak

regions and we characterise the possibilities for increasing

the utilisation of creative potential in the Slovak regions.

Referring the theoretical findings of the topic and our

previous researches, we set the main assumption: the

regions in the Slovak Republic have sufficient creativity

potential for them to be capable of benefiting from the

development of a creative economy, but there absent sup-

porting activities to initiate this potential.

On the basis of literature review and our wide previous

primary and secondary researches related with several

regional issues in Slovak Republic, we set the following

hypotheses:

H0: The highest creativity index 3T is in the western

regions of Slovak republic.

H1: There are crucial regional disparities among the

Bratislava region and the rest of Slovak regions in all

partial indexes as well as the overall creativity index 3T.

H2: The highest share of creative people is concentrated

in the capital city region (Bratislava).

The hypotheses were verified through the chosen sta-

tistical methods as forecasting (linear trend—parabola) and

indexing. The results were processed through the methods

of analysis, synthesis, comparison and deduction.

4 Creativity index in Slovak Republic in 2009

The Slovak Republic consists of eight regions (higher

territorial units)—Bratislava, Kosice, Nitra, Banska Bys-

trica, Trnava, Zilina, Presov and Trencın. In 2009, the most

developed region by the macroeconomic indicators was

Bratislava region, and the less developed regions was

Presov region. The selected indicators of regions, relevant

to the creative index and creative industry, are illustrated in

the Table 3.

By the statistical data of Slovak Statistical Office, Bra-

tislava region is characterised by the highest share of

higher educated people and the highest number of creative

jobs. It is also the region, where is the capital city located.

So, it indicates the greatest innovative and creative

potential of the region. The less developed innovative and

creative potential has Presov region.

To calculate the creativity index, we use the method-

ology proposed by Kloudova (2009) Kloudova et al. 2010

used in the Czech Republic. Based on the statistical data,

we present the summary creativity index consisting of three

parts—talent, technology and tolerance. The information

and data used in calculation of the partial indexes have

been modified in comparison with the Florida index

because there appeared problems with lack of data, inad-

equate statistic reports, etc.

Based on the index calculation in Table 4, we created

the summary index of creativity 3T for the regions of

Slovak Republic. The partial indexes were calculated based

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123

on the statistical and demographic data of regional statistics

and Eurostat.

4.1 Talent index

The first part of the creativity index is a talent index. It

includes human capital index and creative class index

(Table 4). The index of human capital presents the share of

population with higher education in region on the whole

Slovak population (see also data in Table 3). The creative

class index was calculated as a share of creative jobs on the

employment in Slovak regions.

In the Table 5, the indexes are expressed by the point

evaluation 0–8 as the number of region-8. The point 8 is

given to the region with the highest share (region Brati-

slava). The point evaluation is decreasing by the distance

of share from the highest share. The same way of calcu-

lation is used also in the other parts of creativity index. The

talent index, as a sum of human capital index and creative

class index, is the highest in the region Bratislava

(16 points) and the lowest in region Trencın (6.07 points).

In the results, we find out the significant disparity between

the region of Bratislava and other Slovak regions (8,485

points). The differences of talent indexes among regions of

Trnava, Trencın, Nitra, Zilina, Banska Bystrica, Kosice and

Presov are in the range from 0.009 points (Presov–Kosice)

to 1.445 points (Banska Bystrica–Trencın). The first partial

index—Talent index—has confirmed our hypothesis H2

and showed that the highest share of creative people is

located in Bratislava region. This situation is caused by the

location of capital city in the region which influenced also

the highest occurrence of universities and research agen-

cies, innovative and creative enterprises and also largest

presence of creative class.

4.2 Technology index

Technology index, the second part of creativity index,

consists of innovation index and research and development

index. Innovation index is calculated as a share of patents

on the population in Slovak regions. Research and devel-

opment index is created by the share of R & D expenses in

the regions on the GDP of Slovak Republic.

To calculate the innovation index, the most important

indicator is the registered number of patents in the Slovak

regions. Data about the issued patents are collected and

processed by the European statistical database—Eurostat.

But data are published only from 2001 to 2007 (Table 6).

The more actual data are not available.

The region with the highest share of patents on the

number of people in regions is Trnava region and the

lowest share is in the region of Presov. Because there is a

lack of information about patents in year 2008 and 2009, in

the calculation we use data of 2007. By the statistical

Table 3 Characteristics of Slovak regions

Year 2009 Area

(km2)Number of

inhabitants

Population with

higher education

Employment Creative jobs

Regions Scientific and

technical activities

Education Art,

entertainment,

recreation

Total

Bratislava 2,053 622,706 106,500 331.9 47,892 22,969 11,300 82,161

Trnava 4,147 561,525 41,700 273.3 4,284 17,743 4,559 26,586

Trencın 4,502 599,214 39,800 273.5 3,760 17,286 5,018 26,064

Nitra 6,344 705,661 42,300 305.3 4,362 19,350 4,576 28,288

Zilina 6,809 697,502 50,800 297.8 3,613 23,125 5,514 32,252

Banska

Bystrica

9,454 653,186 47,200 258.5 5,660 21,295 4,795 31,750

Presov 8,974 807,011 51,700 321.1 3,964 23,916 5,303 33,183

Kosice 6,755 778,120 45,200 304.6 6,618 23,415 5,972 36,005

Source statistical data of Slovak Statistical Office

Table 4 Calculation of index 3T for the territorial higher units of SR

Talent index

Human Capital

Index (HCI)

Share of population with higher education on

the whole population of the region

Creative class

index (CCI)

Share of creative jobs on the whole

employment

Technology index

Innovation index

(InI)

Share of patents on the whole population of the

region

R & D index

(RDI)

Share of R & D expenses on GDP of SR

Tolerance index

Immigration index

(II)

Share of foreign immigrants in regions on the

whole population of the region

Bohemian index

(BI)

Share of art oriented population in the region

on the whole population of the region

Source own workmanship by Florida 2002

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estimation of the patent’s development, the increasing

tendency of development was appeared (linear trend—

parabola). It means that the problem of distortion calcula-

tion should not be significant.

The second partial index of technology index is research

& development index based on the R & D expenses. The

GDP of Slovak Republic in 2009 was 627,952 mld. Euro

(www.statistics.sk, 30. 3. 2012). The R & D expenses and

calculation of the technology index illustrated the Table 7.

The Table 7 shows that the innovation index is the

highest in region of Trnava and the lowest in region of

Presov. The R&D index is the highest in Bratislava region

and the lowest in Presov region. The partial summary

index—technology index—is highest in Bratislava region

and the lowest in Presov region. The same situation as in

the talent index has appeared. There is a gap of 5.593

points between Bratislava region and Trencın region. The

differences among rest of regions are various—the smallest

deference is between region of Kosice and region of Nitra

(0.185 points), and the largest deference is between Tren-

cın region and Presov region (3.479 points).

4.3 Tolerance index

The last part of the creativity index is a tolerance index

consisting of bohemian index and immigration index.

Bohemian index indicates the share of art-orientated pop-

ulation on the population of regions. Immigration index can

be calculated as a share of immigrants on the population of

regions. The results of index’s calculation present in

Table 8.

Bohemian index has the highest value in the region of

Bratislava and the lowest value in the region of Nitra.

Immigration index is the highest in the Bratislava region

and the lowest in the region of Presov. By counting of both

indexes, tolerance index was calculated. Tolerance index is

the highest in the region of Bratislava and the lowest in the

region of Presov. In this part of creativity index, the highest

deference between the value of tolerance index in Brati-

slava region and other Slovak regions was identified (8.525

points). The differences among the other seven regions are

from 0.062 points (Banska Bystrica—Zilina) to 2.708

points (Trnava—Presov).

Table 5 Talent index in 2,009

Region Share of population with higher

education in region on the population of

SR

Human

capital

index

Order Share of creative job on the

employment in regions

Creative

class

index

Order Talent

index

Order

Bratislava 0.019631608 8.000 1 0.2475 8.000 1 16.000 1

Trnava 0.007686742 3.132 7 0.0972 3.144 6 6.276 6

Trencın 0.007336507 2.990 8 0.0953 3.080 7 6.070 8

Nitra 0.007797343 3.177 4 0.0926 2.994 8 6.171 7

Zilina 0.009364185 3.816 3 0.1083 3.500 4 7.316 3

Banska

Bystrica

0.008700581 3.546 5 0.1228 3.969 2 7.515 2

Presov 0.009530086 3.884 6 0.1033 3.340 5 7.224 4

Kosice 0.008331912 3.395 2 0.1182 3.820 3 7.215 5

Source own workmanship of the data of Slovak Statistical Office and Eurostat

Table 6 Number of patents in the regions 2001–2007

The share of patents on the population in regions

Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Number of patents in SR 12,160 24,270 31,480 20,610 30,700 39,560 42,250

Bratislava 0.01953 0.03898 0.05055 0.03310 0.04930 0.06353 0.06785

Trnava 0.02166 0.04322 0.05606 0.03670 0.05467 0.07045 0.07524

Trencin 0.02029 0.04050 0.05254 0.03440 0.05123 0.06602 0.07051

Nitra 0.01723 0.03439 0.04461 0.02921 0.04351 0.05606 0.05987

Zilina 0.01743 0.03480 0.04513 0.02955 0.04401 0.05672 0.06057

Banska Bystrica 0.01862 0.03716 0.04819 0.03155 0.04700 0.06056 0.06468

Presov 0.01507 0.03007 0.03901 0.02554 0.03804 0.04902 0.05235

Kosice 0.01563 0.03119 0.04046 0.02649 0.03945 0.05084 0.05430

Source own workmanship by the data of Eurostat

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4.4 Creativity index 3T

Based on the previous calculation of talent index, tech-

nology index and tolerance index, we calculated the sum-

mary creativity index by the regions of Slovak Republic.

The results of our research present the Table 9.

The summary creativity index of Slovak regions has the

highest value in the region of Bratislava. This region is

dominant also in the partial indexes (talent index, tech-

nology index and tolerance index). These results confirmed

our hypothesis H1 and showed the crucial regional dis-

parities among the Bratislava region and the rest of Slovak

Table 7 Technology index in 2009

Region Share of patents on the

population in regions

Innovation

index

Research & development

expenses in regions

Share of R&D expenses

on Slovak GDP

R&D

index

Technology

index

Order

Bratislava 0.06785 7.214 156,015,721 0.002484 8.000 15.214 1

Trnava 0.07524 8.000 13,128,090 0.000209 0.673 8.673 3

Trencın 0.07051 7.497 41,425,410 0.000659 2.124 9.621 2

Nitra 0.05987 6.365 13,887,852 0.000221 0.712 7.077 7

Zilina 0.06057 6.440 19,892,607 0.000316 1.020 7.460 5

Banska

Bystrica

0.06468 6.877 18,369,961 0.000292 0.941 7.819 4

Presov 0.05235 5.566 11,230,289 0.000178 0.575 6.142 8

Kosice 0.0543 5.773 29,044,334 0.000462 1.489 7.262 6

Source own workmanship of the data of Slovak Statistical Office

Table 8 Tolerance index in 2009

Region Share of population with

the art orientated on the

population of region

Bohemian

index

Order Number of

immigrated

inhabitants

Share of

immigrants on

the population of

region

Immigration

index

Order Tolerance

index

Order

Bratislava 0.0181 8.000 1 1,799 0.00289 8.000 1 16.000 1

Trnava 0.0081 3.579 3 790 0.00141 3.895 2 7.475 2

Trencın 0.0083 3.691 2 537 0.00090 2.481 4 6.173 4

Nitra 0.0064 2.858 8 981 0.00139 3.849 3 6.708 3

Zilina 0.0079 3.485 4 504 0.00072 2.000 7 5.486 6

Banska

Bystrica

0.0073 3.236 6 516 0.00079 2.187 6 5.423 7

Presov 0.0065 2.896 7 545 0.00068 1.870 8 4.766 8

Kosice 0.0076 3.383 5 674 0.00087 2.398 5 5.782 5

Source own workmanship of the data of Slovak Statistical Office

Table 9 Creativity index 3T in 2009

Regions Talent index Technology index Tolerance index Creativity index Order

Bratislava 16.000 15.214 16.000 47.214 1

Trnava 6.276 8.673 7.475 22.425 2

Trencın 6.070 9.621 6.173 21.864 3

Nitra 6.171 7.078 6.708 19.958 7

Zilina 7.316 7.460 5.486 20.262 5

Banska Bystrica 7.515 7.819 5.424 20.758 4

Presov 7.224 6.142 4.767 18.133 8

Kosice 7.215 7.263 5.782 20.260 6

Source own workmanship of the data of Slovak Statistical Office and Eurostat

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regions not only in the overall creativity index 3T, but also

in all partial indexes. The second most developed creative

region is Trnava region. But there exists a big gap between

the Bratislava and other Slovak regions (Bratislava—

Trnava 24.79 points). The third highest creative index

reached Trencın region. All three regions with highest

creativity index 3T are regions from western part of Slo-

vakia. We think that it is caused by the highest rate of

foreign investments into these regions caused by the good

strategic location and good accessibility. The concentration

of foreign entrepreneurs attracts and maintains creative

class, increases employment and economic growth. The

overall creativity index 3T results confirmed also our

hypothesis H0.

The other order of regions is as follows: Banska Bystrica

region, Zilina region, Kosice region and Nitra region. The

region with the less developed and used creative potential

is the region of Presov. Deference of creativity index

between Bratislava and Presov region is 29.08 points. The

differences in creativity indexes of Slovak regions except

Bratislava region are from 0.062 points (Banska Bystri-

ca—Zilina) to 2.708 points (Trmava—Presov).

5 Conclusions

Creative economy refers the human potential, talent and

creativity as the most important sources of economy

growth and development. Creative economy can be seen as

a sustainable way of development because of the absence

of human creativity limitations (Borsekova et al. 2011).

The realised research confirmed that there are crucial

disparities among the Slovak regions by the creativity

index. Our assumption that the creative people are con-

centrated in the more developed regions of Slovak

Republic, where are better possibilities to realise their

creative potential has confirmed.

By the analysis of creative potential and calculation of

creativity index in eight Slovak regions, the Bratislava

region was identified as the most developed region with the

great creative potential and highest concentration of crea-

tive people. It is caused primarily because of the capital

city location in the Bratislava region. This fact attracts

domestic and foreign entrepreneurs and investments, uni-

versities, research agencies. Through the synergy effect, it

brings innovation, new technologies and big concentration

of creative class. The special position of Bratislava region

is caused especially because of the capital city, so it is

difficult for other Slovak regions to reach the same level.

These research results confirmed our hypotheses H1 and

H2.

The region with the less developed innovative and cre-

ative potential is the region of Presov. The analysis has

indicated some weaknesses of the development of creative

economy in Slovak Republic. The development is uneven

and concentrated in the regions of Bratislava, Trencın and

Trnava, in the western part of Slovakia. This is confirming

our hypothesis H0. The rest of Slovakia is characterised by

the immigration of work forces to these regions, what is

probably the biggest problem which need to be solved for

development of creative economy and industries in the

central and eastern regions of Slovakia. There absent some

conceptual approaches to develop the creative activities

evenly with the support of national, regional or local

government. So, these confirm also our assumption that the

regions in the Slovak Republic have sufficient creativity

potential for them to be capable of benefiting from the

development of a creative economy, but there absent sup-

porting activities to initiate this potential. For developing

and utilisation of regional creative potential is very

important cooperation and networking of stakeholders who

should help unlock existing creative potential and start up

the development of creative economy. Authors Barrieau

and Savoie (In Hamilton et al. 2009, p.19) state that it is

very important to create links among universities, business

and creative enterprises. Universities, especially those that

have established an active research centres, play a catalytic

role in the creative economy and act as a magnet attracting

mental activity and innovation. Knowledge produced by

universities is transferred to trade and business through

partnerships and cooperation. Through stimulate dialogue

and exchange of information, universities can play a key

role in forming partnerships necessary for the development

of creative economy. We agree with this statement but we

believe that in the development of creative sector should be

involved not only private sector, but also public and non-

profit sector. The following figure shows the interlinkage

among the creative sector and public, private and non-profit

sector (Fig. 1).

We consider as extremely important the development of

creative sector in context of cooperation and partnership of

public, private and non-profit sector. The cooperation of

the public sector, particularly universities and scientific

research institutions, with the private sector, which

depends on scientific and technological progress and

Privatesector

Publicsector

Non-profitsector

Creative

sector

Fig. 1 Interlinkage among the creative sector and public, private and

non-profit sector. Source Borsekova and Petrıkova 2010, p

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123

innovation, supported by non-profit organisations active in

the creative industries, forms the basis for the development

and successful movement of creative economy (Borsekova

and Petrıkova 2010).

To research the creative potential and its use in the

territory, the relevant data are necessary. In our research,

we identified a few problems of their gaining which

influence the calculation of creativity index. One of the

most serious problems was to identify the employment of

creative class. The statistical data of creative class are

available only on the national level. That is why the data

had to be accustomed to the regional sources of informa-

tion, and the creative class includes the employees in the

areas: expert, scientific and technical activities, education,

art, entertainment and recreation. These data are recorded

only from 2009, so there is no possibility to analyse their

trend of development.

The further problem has appeared in calculation of

innovation index, which is based on the share of patents in

regions. The statistics about the registered patents are

available only until 2007 from Eurostat.

The problem with data influenced also the calculation of

tolerance index. There is a lack of recorded data about the

population with the talent and creative thinking (only the

statistics of employment in art, entertainment and recrea-

tion exist). The used data in calculation of immigration

index include only the foreign immigrants and not the

immigration within the Slovak Republic.

In the regional development of creative economy should

be more active regional government and their representa-

tives. The management of the territory should create con-

ditions to support the interactions and communication

among stakeholders and its coordination based on mutual

belief and responsibility; motivate the creative people to

stay and develop their talent and creativity in their home

regions; develop the education facilities aimed at creativity

development; preserve, protect and present the historical,

cultural, social and spiritual values, knowledge and skills;

build strong financial background for the progressive

investments into the modern infrastructure for the educa-

tion, research, science and innovations; support the small,

innovative and independent entrepreneurs; monitor and

identify the possibilities of consensus among needs,

motives, expectation, ambitions of inhabitants, investors,

entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, politicians; create condi-

tions for development of cooperation among local and

regional governments, cross-culture cooperation which

support the creative activities, dialogue and cooperation

(Vanova 2010).

The new ideas, knowledge and its application into

practice bring the new potential sources of competitive

advantages that influence the further development in

regions to attract the foreign investments, to create the

tolerance environment, to increase the employment and

regional GDP and so on.

Acknowledgments The paper was published by the support of

research project VEGA n. 1/1010/11 Theoretical and methodological

basis of planning in the public administration and possibilities of its

application in the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Education, Research

and Sport of the Slovak Republic.

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