Creative-driven firms. When economics and art merge

The analysis presented in this short essay represents an interesting experiment that combines the skills of different experts (artists, architects, economists, etc.) with the aim of enhancing the natural and cultural heritage of the municipalities of Campania. In recent years, a new idea of culture has become increasingly popular. It is a rather modern proposition, closer to the international sentiment and far from the mainstream Italian notion that conceives culture as a non-economic domain, confined solely to the conservation and enhancement of historic and artistic heritage. Creative-driven firms are all the firms that, while not belonging to the so-called cultural and creative business system, develop create services and products through cultural and creative processes. In these companies, covering a large and diversified area of the market (from food to furniture, design, construction, fashion, tourism, etc.), culture is considered as an input in the production process. This new way of doing business combines art and economic growth. Our research goal is to provide a new perspective on business, where art is the main input of the production process. Starting from the artistic endowment of the region of Campania, we aim to identify the presence of a fertile ground for the development of creative-driven firms. To this aim, we use an experimental project (ContaminationLab Uniparthenope) as a potential ground for the interaction between economists and experts of the artistic field, combining the principles of swot analysis with those of art.