Regional economic effects of the european capital of culture project: the use of input-output analysis

The topic of economic effects of culture has become very popular recently. Particularly in connection with the European Capital of Culture, various studies examining economic impacts or methodologies for their monitoring are annually processed and the results are often part of evaluation reports related to the individual European Capital of Culture projects. Given the fact that in 2015 the European Capital of Culture is Plzen in the Czech Republic, it has been appropriate to determine what multiplier effects can be expected in connection with this event. Therefore, the focus was not only on the sector called “Arts, entertainment and recreation,” but also on the other related industries that can be affected by the increase of tourists (i.e. “Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles”, “Transportation and storage” and “Accommodation and food service activities”). Therefore, the regional input-output model has been calculated and then multipliers of production, gross value added, income and employment have been derived for the sectors related to culture, wholesale and retail, transport, accommodation and food. The results have showed that these industries have the potential to affect the economy of the region and it can therefore be assumed that the aforementioned events, which take place within the Pilsen European Capital of Culture 2015, will bring considerable fi nancial resources to the region, mainly through attracting foreign tourists and tourists from other regions of the country. The derived multipliers are computed from data for 2010 (more recent are not available) and, of course, they can also be used to determine economic effects of other events