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Who is David Throsby?

David Throsby is widely known for his research and writing in the field of the economics of art and culture. A Distinguished Professor in the Department of Economics at Macquarie University, Sydney since 1974 he is in charge of the Economics and Culture Research Center. His current areas of research include the economic circumstances of creative artists, valuing the arts, the economics of cultural heritage, and the relationships between economics and cultural policy

He published numerous books: The Economics of the Performing Arts, with Glen Withers (1979) - a standard reference work in the field, « The Production and Consumption of the Arts: A View of Cultural Economics » in Journal of Economic Littérature (1994),  Economics and Culture (2001), translated in several languages, Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture with Victor Ginsburg (2006). He has been a consultant to the World Bank, the OECD, FAO and UNESCO, as well as many government organisations and private firms.

Within the framework of the think thank of the Forum d’Avignon and as part of the preparation of the study "Commiting and investing in culture: from intuition to decision", David Throsby has been interviewed on the interrelations between economic growth and creativity. According to him "it is becoming increasingly clear that creativity is a key resource in promoting innovation in the economy.  Thus a link between creativity and the economic performance of businesses and of whole economies is established. If we imagine the cultural industries as a system with the creative arts at the centre, we can begin to understand how artists and arts organizations generate ideas that diffuse outwards through creative industries such as film, media, publishing, fashion and design, and contribute to innovation both in those creative industries and also in the wider economy."

To go further

Interview of David Throsby - Economic growth and creativity 

Economics and Culture Research Departement, Maquarie University