DOES RESIDENTIAL DIVERSITY ATTRACT WORKERS IN CREATIVE OCCUPATIONS

The 'Florida hypothesis' suggests that regional economic growth is driven by inflows of creative workers (the 'creative class'), and that creative class workers are attracted to regions that are tolerant and diverse. This paper seeks to test the second part of the hypothesis for Australia. Evidence suggests that while there is some association between changes in the creative class and tolerance, the association with diversity is weak and inconsistent. We conclude that overall, the Florida hypothesis does not explain the locational decisions of creatives in the Australian context.