JOHNS Adam

Over the last decade, considerable attention has been paid to the creative industries as drivers of innovation and economic development. Governments of varying policy persuasions have taken an interest in developing export-oriented media and digital content industries within their jurisdictions. While many governments see their role as directly intervening to provide industry-specific funding, the economic and institutional settings that firms operate within can also play a major role in shaping a country’s capacity for the creation of media content. This paper uses cross-national data to explore the effect these settings have on creative industry exports before examining two contrasting cases of government policy towards the media content industries in Japan and Korea. Findings indicate that while direct industry-specific support can assist where lack of market scale is a problem, governments can play a more vital role by ensuring economic, political, and educational infrastructure is in place before providing financial incentives.