International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2024

The Creative Industries in the Theory of Contracts: Richard E. Caves and His Economics of Art

(Abstract)

Lu Wenchao

Richard E. Caves studies the creative industries from the theory of contracts. He claims that the creative industries are uncertain, which aggravates the incompleteness of the contracts, so the creative industries must take actions to provide incentives and avoid the risks. The creative industries need the collaboration of many people, so time is very important, and it will influence the bargaining ability of the parties who signed the contracts. Richard E. Caves not only deepens our understandings of art from the theory of contracts, but also develops the theory of contracts based on the specificity of the creative industries. This is very helpful for us to develop the Chinese economics of art.