How Should Cultural Diversity be Measured? An Application using the French Publishing Industry
Résumé
Despite the fuzzy nature of the concept of cultural diversity, it remains a core issue in several debates (WTO, European Constitution, etc.). In this paper we propose a framework to assess cultural diversity that relies on a three-criterion analysis: variety, balance and disparity. We also introduce a distinction between supplied and consumed diversity. To test this framework, we have studied cultural diversity in the French book industry over the period 1990-2003. Our main results are that the situation of the publishing industry in terms of cultural diversity is highly dependent on the criteria considered. Hence, when variety is the sole consideration, diversity increases. However, taking balance and disparity into account rather leads to the opposite conclusion
En dépit du caractère polysémique du concept de diversité culturelle, ce concept est au coeur des politiques culturelles. Cet article propose une méthode originale de mesure de la diversité culturelle, empruntée au domaine de la biodiversité, en termes de variété, équilibre et disparité. La distinction entre diversité offerte et diversité demandée permet de compléter la méthode. Une application est proposée pour le domaine de l'édition.
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