The role of cooperation in a creative industry: the case of UK studio pottery

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the role that cooperation plays in a small‐scale creative sector, namely that of UK studio pottery. Drawing upon data from a survey of studio potters, we examine the extent to which these artists cooperate with others in their production activities and then assess the impact of this cooperation on their sales performance. While our results suggest that studio potters can and do benefit from establishing stronger cooperative ties, the nurturing of such ties is not always easy and significant barriers to cooperation exist. Overcoming such barriers depends very much upon the nature of dyadic relations between actors, which is something we suggest reflects the governance structure of the network.