This study

• describes the organizational models of firms operating in the creative industries as well as the different forms of collaboration and networking within the creative industries;
• describes the value creation within the creative industries.
• discusses the direct and indirect ways of how value creation in creative industries contributes to value added in the economy; the contribution of the creative industries was characterized by their goods and services, by typical customer-contractor relationships and by organizational modes of cooperation;
• discusses policy measures to maintain and strengthen the role of the creative industries as a source of value added in the economy.

These issues were investigated based on a large-scale survey of Austrian firms belonging to the creative industries. In addition, four case studies explore in detail the different ways in which creative firms contribute to value added in the rest of the economy.