Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

PL EN


2015 | 5 | 2 | 88-101

Article title

Public banking for the cultural sector: financial instruments and the new financial intermediaries

Title variants

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
The use of financial instruments by the public sector to support the cultural and creative field is a rising trend. At a national and supranational level, public bodies are increasingly employing financial instruments, such as loan guarantees, to facilitate debt financing to creative organisations. This paper attempts to contribute to the understanding of these changes. It explores the logic of public intervention underpinning the emergence of this phenomenon in four distinct polities; France, Spain, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), as well as their mutual influences. It does so from a historical perspective, placing special attention to economic, political and ideational factors. The article concludes by arguing that although financial instruments cannot be considered as novel mechanisms, the intensity under which they are currently being advanced may signal towards a profound change for the governance of the cultural sector.

Publisher

Year

Volume

5

Issue

2

Pages

88-101

Physical description

Dates

published
2015-10-01
received
2014-10-01
accepted
2015-02-15
online
2015-10-30

References

  • Adorno, T. W., & Horkheimer, M. (1997). Dialectic of enlightenment (Vol. 15). Verso.
  • AIF, Arts Impact Fund (2015) How and what we fund. Available at: [accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Arts, W., & Gelissen, J. (2002). Three worlds of welfare capitalism or more? A state-of-the-art report. Journal of European social policy, 12(2), pp. 137-158.
  • Alcock P (2010) ‘Building the Big Society: A New Policy Environment for the Third Sector in England’, Voluntary Sector Review 1(3), pp. 379–389.
  • Baujard, T., Lauriac M., Robert V, Cadio, S.. (2009). Study on the Role of Banks in the European Film Industry. Final report. Peacefulfish Consultancy.
  • Baumol, W. J. (2011). Application of welfare economics. Towse, R. (Ed.). A handbook of cultural economics. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 9-18
  • Bazalgette, P. (2015) Arts Impact Fund: a radical new way of getting extra funding for the arts. The Independent. 10 June 2015 Available from: [Accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Beck, T., & Honohan, P. (2008). Finance for all?: Policies and pitfalls in expanding access (Vol. 41792). World Bank Publications
  • Beck, T., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Maria, S. M. P. (2008). Banking SMEs around the world: drivers, obstacles, business models and lending practices. World Bank Mimeo.
  • Beck, T., Klapper, L. F., & Mendoza, J. C. (2010). The typology of partial credit guarantee funds around the world. Journal of Financial Stability, 6(1), pp.10-25.
  • Beck, T. (2013). Bank Financing for SMEs–Lessons from the Literature. National Institute Economic Review, 225(1), pp. 23-38.
  • Belfiore, E. (2002). Art as a means of alleviating social exclusion: does it really work? A critique of instrumental cultural policies and social impact studies in the UK. International journal of cultural policy, 8(1), pp. 91-106.
  • Belfiore, E. (2004) The methodological challenge of cross-national research : comparing cultural policy in Britain and Italy. Working Paper. Coventry: Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick. Centre for Cultural Policy Studies University of Warwick Research Papers (No.8)
  • Bell, D., & Oakley, K. (2014). Cultural policy. Routledge.
  • Bennett, O. (1997) Cultural policy, cultural pessimism and postmodernity, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 4(1), pp. 67-84
  • Bennett, O. (2005). Beyond machinery: The cultural policies of Matthew Arnold. History of Political Economy, 37(3), pp. 455-482.
  • Bizern, C. & Autissier, A.-M. (1998) Public Aid Mechanisms for the Film and Audiovisual Industry in Europe: Comparative Analysis of National Aid Mechanisms, 1(1), European Audiovisual Observatory and Centre National de la Cinématographie, Paris, Strasbourg.
  • Bonet, L., & Négrier, E. (2010). Cultural policy in Spain: processes and dialectics. Cultural trends 19(1-2), pp. 41-52.
  • Bonet, L., & Négrier, E. (2011). La tensión estandarización-diferenciación en las políticas culturales. El caso de España y Francia. Gestión y Análisis de Políticas Públicas, (6), pp. 53-73
  • Big Lottery Fund (2014). Big Lottery Fund Annual Report and Accounts For the financial year ended 31 March 2014. Available from: [accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Blomquist, W. (2009) The Policy Process and Large-N Comparative Studies in Sabatier, P. A., (Ed.). Theories of the policy process. Westview Press. pp. 261-289
  • Big Society Capital (2011) Big Society Capital. Finance in the service of society. Press Release, 29/07/2011. Available from: [accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Bouzada, X. (1999). Cultural policies in modern Spain: origins and orientations. Loisir et société/Society and Leisure, 22(2), pp. 453-485.
  • Bragg, M. Contribution in the debate ‘Economy: Creative Industries (HL Deb 18 June 2015, c1283). Available from: [accessed: 20/07/2015]
  • Buckler, S. & Dolowitz, D. (2012). Ideology matters: Party competition, ideological positioning and the case of the conservative party under David Cameron. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 14(4), pp. 576-594.
  • Cabinet Office. Pioneering investment fund brings social finance to the arts. 10 March 2015. Available at [Accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Cameron, D. (2012) Press conference launching Big Society capital at the London Stock Exchange, 4 April 2012. Available at: [Accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Caves, R. E. (2000). Creative industries: Contracts between art and commerce (No. 20). Harvard University Press.
  • Chisholm, D. C., Fernández-Blanco, V., Ravid, S. A., & Walls, W. D. (2015). Economics of motion pictures: the state of the art. Journal of Cultural Economics, 39(1), pp. 1-13.
  • CIFa - Creative Industry Finance (undated) Our aims. Available from: [Accessed:19/11/2014]
  • CIFb - Creative Industry Finance Lenders (undated). Available from: [Accessed:19/11/2014]
  • Collard, S. (2000). French cultural policy: The special role of the state. Contemporary French cultural studies, pp. 38-51.
  • Comunian, R. (2009) Questioning creative work as driver of economic development: the case of Newcastle-Gateshead, Creative Industries Journal, 2(1), pp. 57-71
  • Čopič, V. (2009) Ideological background of empirical ignorance, Cultural Trends, 18(2), pp.185-202,
  • Čopič, V, Uzelac, A., Primorac, J., Jelinčić, D. A., & Žuvela, A. (2011). Encouraging Private Investment in the Cultural Sector. Study for the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education. Available from: [Accessed: 10/08/2014]
  • Corbett, C., Walker, A.. (2013) The big society: Rediscovery of ‘the social’ or rhetorical fig-leaf for neo-liberalism?. Critical Social Policy. 33(3), pp. 451–472
  • Cowling, M., & Siepel, J. (2013). Public intervention in UK small firm credit markets: Value-for-money or waste of scarce resources?. Technovation, 33(8), pp. 265-275.
  • CREA SGR. (2014) Annual financial report. Available from: [Accessed: 02/08/2015]
  • Cwi, D. (1980). Public support of the arts: Three arguments examined. Journal of Cultural Economics, 4(2), pp. 39-62.
  • Davis, A., & Walsh, C. (2015). The Role of the State in the Financialisation of the UK Economy. Political Studies.
  • Dümcke, C., Jaurová, Z., & Inkei, P. (2014) Opportunities for CCSs to Access Finance in the EU-Short Analytical Report. EENC. Available from: [Accessed: 14/06/2015]
  • EFF. (2015) Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Funding Strategy 2015-19. Available from: [Accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Esmée Fairbairn (n.d.) Executive team. Caroline Mason CBE, Chief Executive. Available from: [Accessed: 30/08/2015]
  • EGEDA-FIPCA (2013) Nuevos modelos de financiación. Available from: [Accessed: 30/08/2015]
  • EPPI Centre. (2010). Understanding the drivers, impact and value of engagement in culture and sport: An over-arching summary of the research. London, UK: Department for Culture Media and Sport
  • European Commission (1995) Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a European Guarantee Fund to promote cinema and television production. COM (95) 546 final, 14 November 1994.
  • European Commission (1999) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Principles and guidelines for the Community’s audiovisual policy in the digital age. COM/99/0657 final. 14.12.1999
  • European Commission (2010) Green Paper - Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries. COM/2010/0183 final. 27.4.2010
  • European Commission (2011a) European Commission launches € 8 million cinema loan guarantee fund - Press Release. IP/11/23. Brussels, 12 January 2011. Available from: [Accessed:22/08/2015]
  • European Commission (2011b) Brussels, Commission staff working paper. Impact assessment Acompanying the document Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Creative Europe Framework Programme. SEC(2011) 1399 final. 23.11.2011
  • European Commission (2011c) State Aid n° SA.33683 (2011/N) – United Kingdom - Big Society Capital Brussels, C(2011)9341 final. 20.12.2011
  • European Commission (2012) Creative Europe Programme. The cultural and Creative Sectors Loan Guarantee Facility. FAQ. Available from: [Accessed 22/08/2014]
  • European Commission (2013a) Regulation No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing the Creative Europe Programme (2014 to 2020) and repealing Decisions No 1718/2006/EC, No 1855/2006/EC and No 1041/2009/EC. OJ L 347. 20.12.2013
  • European Commission (2013b) Creative Europe funding guide published: €170 million available in 2014. IP/13/1238
  • European Commission (2014a) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. European film in the digital era Bridging cultural diversity and competitiveness, COM/2014/0272 final.
  • European Commission (2014b) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, The European Central Bank, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions and The European Investment. An Investment Plan for Europe. COM/2014/0903 final.
  • European Commission (2014c) Communication from the Commission. Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments (2014/C 19/04). Official Journal C 19/4. 22.1.2014
  • European Council (2012) Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the Creative Europe Programme - Partial general approach, 16155/12, 2011/0370 (COD), Brussels, 16.11.2012
  • European Council (2014) European Council (18 December 2014) - Conclusions EUCO 237/14, CO EUR 16, CONCL 6 - Brussels, 18.12.2014
  • European Parliament (1999) Working paper. The Future of the audiovisual sector in the European Union. Education and Culture Series. EDUC 103 EN. Luxembourg. Available from: [Accessed 22/08/2014]
  • Finn, A., Mc Fadyen, S., & Hoskins, C. (1994). Marketing, management, and competitive strategy in the cultural industries. Canadian Journal of Communication, 19(3).
  • Fleming, T. (2014) Creative Industry Finance Pilot Programme. Final Evaluation Report. Available from: [Accessed:12/11/2014]
  • Frey, B. S. (2011). Public Support. In: Towse, R. (Ed.). A handbook of cultural economics. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 389-398.
  • Garnham, N. (2005). From cultural to creative industries: An analysis of the implications of the “creative industries” approach to arts and media policy making in the United Kingdom. International journal of cultural policy, 11(1), pp. 15-29.
  • Gray, C. (2007) Commodification and instrumentality in cultural policy, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 13(2), pp. 203-215.
  • Gray, C. (2008) ’Instrumental policies: causes, consequences, museums and galleries’, Cultural Trends,17(4), pp. 209 -222.
  • Hackett, P. Ramsden, Sattar, D., Guene, C. (2000) Banking on Culture: New FI for expanding the cultural sector in Europe: Final Report. North West Arts Board.
  • Hesmondhalgh, D., Nisbett, M., Oakley, K., & Lee, D. (2015). Were New Labour’s cultural policies neo-liberal?. International journal of cultural policy, 21(1), pp. 97-114.
  • Hillman-Chartrand, H. and McCaughey, C., 1989. The arm’s length principle and the arts: an international perspective – past, present and future. In: M.C. Cummings and J.M.D. Schuster, eds. Who’s to pay for the arts: the international search for models of arts support. New York, NY: American Council for the Arts, pp. 43–73.
  • HM Treasury (2003) The green book: Appraisal and evaluation in central government, London:The Stationery Office.
  • Honohan, P. (2010). Partial credit guarantees: principles and practice. Journal of Financial Stability, 6(1), pp. 1-9.
  • Humphreys, P. (2009). EU audiovisual policy, cultural diversity and the future of public service broadcasting. In Harrison, J. & Wessels, B. (Eds). Mediating Europe: New Media, Mass Communications and the European Public Sphere, Berhahn Books. pp. 183-213.
  • IFCIC. Profile. Available from: [Accessed: 10/11/2014]
  • IFRS (2014) IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation Available from: [Accessed: 11/11/2014]
  • Jäckel, A. (2007). The internationalism of French film policy. Modern & Contemporary France, 15(1), pp. 21-36.
  • KEA. 2006. The economy of culture in Europe. Available from: [Accessed: 23/08/2014]
  • Keynes, J. M. (1982) The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes, Vol. 28 (ed. D. Moggridge), Macmillan Press, London.
  • Kretschmer, M., Klimis, G. M., & Choi, C. J. (1999). Increasing returns and social contagion in cultural industries. British Journal of Management, 10(s1), pp. 61-72.
  • Looseley, D.(2003) Back to the future: Rethinking French cultural policy, 1997-2002, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 9(2), pp. 227-234.
  • Looseley, D. (2011) Notions of popular culture in cultural policy: a comparative history of France and Britain, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 17(4), pp. 365-379.
  • Looseley, D. (2012) Democratising the popular: the case of pop music in France and Britain, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 18(5), pp. 579-592.
  • Littoz-Monnet, A. (2012). Agenda-setting dynamics at the EU level: the case of the EU cultural policy. Journal of European Integration, 34(5), pp. 505-522.
  • Madden, C. (2005). Cross-country comparisons of cultural statistics: Issues and good practice. Cultural trends, 14(4), pp. 299-316.
  • Martin, L. (2014). The democratisation of culture in France in the nineteenth & twentieth centuries: an obsolete ambition?. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 20(4), pp. 440-455.
  • McGuigan, J. (2004). Rethinking cultural policy. McGraw-Hill International.
  • Mercer, C., Obuljen, N., Primorac, J., Uzelac, A. (2012) The Culture Strand of the Creative Europe Programme 2014-2020. Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies European Parliament. Available from: [Accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Moggridge, D. E. (2005). Keynes, the arts, and the state. History of political economy, 37(3), pp. 535-555.
  • Mulcahy, K. V. (1998). Cultural patronage in comparative perspective: public support for the arts in France, Germany, Norway, and Canada. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 27(4), pp. 247-263
  • Mulcahy, K.V. (2003) Comparing Cultural patronage: Traditions and Trends. In Morris, V. B., & Pankratz, D. B. (Eds.). The arts in a new millennium: Research and the arts sector. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 95-108.
  • Mulcahy, K. V. (2006). Cultural policy: Definitions and theoretical approaches. The journal of arts management, law, and society, 35(4), pp. 319-330.
  • NESTA (n.d) Frans Sanderson profile Available at: [Accessed: 23/08/2015]
  • Newman, J. (2001). Modernizing governance: New Labour, policy and society. Sage.
  • O’Brien, D. (2013). Cultural policy: Management, value and modernity in the creative industries. Routledge.
  • O’Brien, D. (2015) Creative Industries and the Specificity of the British State. In: Oakley, K., & O’Connor, J. (Eds.) The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries. Routledge. pp. 452-463.
  • OECD (2014) Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2014. An OECD Scoreboard. Available from: [Accessed: 23/10/2014]
  • Pattie, C., & Johnston, R. (2011). How big is the Big Society?. Parliamentary affairs, 64 (3), pp. 403-424.
  • Peacock, A. (2000), Public financing of the arts in England. Fiscal Studies, 21(2), pp. 171–205
  • Polo, J. F. (2003). La politique cinématographique de Jack Lang. De la réhabilitation des industries culturelles à la proclamation de l’exception culturelle. Politix, 16(61), pp.123-149.
  • Powell, M. (2000). New Labour and the third way in the British welfare state: a new and distinctive approach?. Critical social policy, 20(1), pp. 39-60.
  • Pratt, A. C. (2009). Policy Transfer and the Field of the Cultural and Creative Industries: What Can Be Learned from Europe?. In: Kong, L., & O’Connor, J. (Eds.). Creative economies, creative cities: Asian-European perspectives (Vol. 98). Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 9-23.
  • Radaelli, C. M. (2003). The Open Method of Co-ordination. Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies Rapport.
  • Ratiu, D.E. (2009) Cultural Policy and Values: Intrinsic versus Instrumental? The Case of Romania, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 39(1), pp. 24-44
  • Regent, S. (2003). The open method of coordination: a new sLaupra-national form of governance?. European Law Journal, 9(2), pp. 190-214.
  • Ridge, M., D. O’Flaherty, A. Caldwell-Nichols, R. Bradley and C. Howell. 2007. A Framework for Evaluating Cultural Policy Investment. A Report prepared for DCMS. London: Frontier Economics. Available at: [Accessed: 30/07/2015]
  • Rius-Ulldemolins, J. & Rubio-Arostegui, A. (2013) The governance of national cultural organisations: comparative study of performance contracts with the main cultural organisations in England, France and Catalonia (Spain), International Journal of Cultural Policy,19 (2), pp. 249-269
  • Rius-Ulldemolins, J. & Zamorano, M. M. (2015). Federalism, Cultural Policies, and Identity Pluralism: Cooperation and Conflict in the Spanish Quasi-Federal System. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 45(2), pp.167-188.
  • Rubio-Arostegui, A. (2007) Trente ans de ministère de la Culture en Espagne (1977-2007) Transition démocratique et alternance politique. In: Bonet, L., & Négrier, E. (2007). La politique culturelle en Espagne. Karthala. pp.119-144
  • Sabatier, P. A., (2005) Policy change over a decade or more in Stehr, N., & Grundmann, R. (Eds.). Knowledge: critical concepts (Vol. 4). Taylor & Francis. pp. 164-189
  • Sabatier, P. A., Weible, C. (2007) The Advocacy Coalition Framework: Innovations and Clarifications. Sabatier, P. A. (Ed.). Theories of the policy process. Westview Press. pp.189-220
  • Schmidt, V. A. 2010. Taking ideas and discourse seriously: explaining change through discursive institutionalism as the fourth ‘new institutionalism’. European political science review, 2(1), pp. 1-25.
  • Schuster, D. J. M. (1987). Making compromises to make comparisons in cross-national arts policy research. Journal of Cultural Economics, 11(2), pp.1-36.
  • Schuster, J. M. (1997). Deconstructing a Tower of Babel: privatisation, decentralisation and devolution as ideas in good currency in cultural policy. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 8(3), pp. 261-282.
  • Smith, M. J. (2010). From big government to big society: changing the state–society balance. Parliamentary affairs, 63(4), pp. 818-833.
  • Stevenson, D. Rowe, D and McKay, K (2010). Convergence in British Cultural Policy: The Social, the Cultural, and the Economic, The Journal of Arts Management, w, and Society, 40(4), pp. 248-265.
  • Streeck, W., & Thelen, K. A. (2005). Introduction: Institutional change in advanced political economies. In Beyond continuity: Institutional change in advanced political economies. Oxford University Press. pp. 1-39
  • Taylor-Gooby, P., & Stoker, G. (2011). The coalition programme: a new vision for Britain or politics as usual?. The Political Quarterly, 82(1), pp. 4-15.
  • Tiendrebeogo, T. (2010) Risk Perception and Management Methods in the Funding of Cultural Activity Sectors. Contribution to the Symposium “Funding culture, Managing the risk” (UNESCO, Paris, 15-16 April 2010). Available [Accessed: 22/07/2015]
  • UNESCO (2015) Post-2015 Dialogues on Culture and Development. Available [Accessed: 23/07/2015]
  • Upchurch, A. (2004) John Maynard Keynes, the Bloomsbury group and the origins of the arts council movement, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 10(2), pp. 203-217.
  • Upchurch, A.R (2011) Keynes’s legacy: an intellectual’s influence reflected in arts policy, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 17(1), pp. 69-80.
  • Urfalino, P. (1993). De l’anti-impérialisme américain à la dissolution de la politique culturelle. Revue française de science politique, 43(5), pp. 823-849.
  • Vestheim, G. (2012a). Cultural policy and democracy: an introduction. International journal of cultural policy, 18(5), pp. 493-504.
  • Vestheim, G. (2012b). Cultural policy-making: negotiations in an overlapping zone between culture, politics and money. International journal of cultural policy, 18(5), pp. 530-544.
  • Vogel, H. L. (2010). Entertainment industry economics: A guide for financial analysis. Cambridge University Press.
  • Villarroya, A. (2012). Country Profile: Spain. ERICArts/Council of Europe (Ed.), Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends, pp. 1-88.
  • De Voldere, I. Durinck, E., Mertens, M., Cardon, C., Maenhout, T., Warmerdam, S., Versteegh, M., Canton, E (2013c) Survey on access to finance for cultural and creative sectors. Available from: [Accessed: 22/11/2014]
  • Warwick Report (2015) Enriching Britain: Culture, Creativity and Growth. The 2015 Report by the Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value. Available at: [Accessed: 30/08/2015]
  • Wells, P. (2013). When the third sector went to market: the problematic use of market failure to justify social investment policy. Voluntary Sector Review, 4(1), pp. 77-94.
  • Wilson, N., & Stokes, D. (2002). Cultural entrepreneurs and creating exchange. Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 4(1), pp. 37-52.
  • Wiesand, A. J. (2002). Comparative cultural policy research in Europe: A change of paradigm. Canadian Journal of Communication, 27(2). pp. 369-378
  • Zajdenweber, D. (2012) Une Institution de financement originale du cinéma : l’Ifcic. Risques : les cahiers de l’assurance. 90, pp. 29-33
  • Zerbe, R. O., & McCurdy, H. E. (1999). The failure of market failure. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 18(4), pp. 558-578.
  • Zimmer, A., and Toepler, S. (1999). The subsidized muse: government and the arts in Western Europe and the United States. Journal of Cultural Economics, 23(1-2), pp. 33-49.

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.doi-10_1515_irsr-2015-0008
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.