Economic growth and its impact on remuneration systems in audiovisual service providers in Central Europe
Published Online: Sep 4, 2026
Email:
maria.bartekova@euba.sk
Bratislava University of Economics and Business, Bratislava, Slovakia
Email:
frantisek.pollak@euba.sk
Bratislava University of Economics and Management, Bratislava, Slovakia
Views: 430
Downloads: 22
Download PDF
Abstract:
Background: In audiovisual services, remuneration development may be influenced by economic performance, but also by sector-specific characteristics such as project-based work, contractual arrangements, intellectual property rights and the position of audiovisual workers in the value chain. This issue is particularly relevant in Central Europe, where countries share similar post-transition economic backgrounds, but differ in wage levels, labour market structures and institutional frameworks. Objectives: The paper aims to determine whether economic growth, measured by GDP growth, is reflected in remuneration development in the audiovisual sector. Methods/Approach: The study is based on a quantitative analysis of secondary statistical data. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis are used to assess the relationship between remuneration, country-specific effects, time effects and economic growth in the analysed countries. Results: The results show that economic growth has a positive coefficient in the regression model, suggesting a possible positive association between GDP growth and remuneration in audiovisual service providers. However, this relationship is not statistically significant, and the overall model does not provide sufficient evidence that economic growth directly explains remuneration development in the sector. Conclusions: The paper concludes that remuneration in audiovisual services cannot be explained only by macroeconomic growth. Fair and sustainable remuneration depends on a broader combination of factors, including employment status, contractual conditions, collective bargaining, intellectual property rights, sectoral structure and institutional mechanisms that determine how the benefits of economic growth are distributed within the audiovisual sector.
Keywords:
JEL Classification:
J31, L82, O47
How to cite:
Bartekova, M., Pollak, F. (2026). Economic growth and its impact on remuneration systems in audiovisual service providers in Central Europe. Access to science, business, innovation in the digital economy, ACCESS Press 7(3), 694-705, https://doi.org/10.46656/access.2026.7.3(11)
References:
-
Acemoglu, D., & Restrepo, P. (2020). Robots and jobs: Evidence from US labor markets. Journal of Political Economy, 128(6), 2188–2244. https://doi.org/10.1086/705716
-
Autor, D. H., Levy, F., & Murnane, R. J. (2003). The skill content of recent technological change: An empirical exploration. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(4), 1279–1333. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355303322552801
-
Been, W., Wijngaarden, Y., & Loots, E. (2023). Welcome to the inner circle? Earnings and inequality in the creative industries. Cultural Trends, 33(3), 255-272 https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2023.2181057
-
Brook, O., O’Brien, D., & Taylor, M. (2020). “There’s no way that you get paid to do the arts”: Unpaid labour across the cultural and creative life course. Sociological Research Online, 25(4), 571–588. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780419895291
-
Erickson, K. (2024). AI and work in the creative industries: Digital continuity or discontinuity? Creative Industries Journal, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17510694.2024.2421135
-
European Audiovisual Observatory. (2024). Fair remuneration for audiovisual authors and performers in licensing agreements. Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/iris-plus-2023-03en/1680adec3c (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
European Audiovisual Observatory. (2025). Key trends 2025: Television, cinema, video and on-demand audiovisual services in Europe. Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/key-trends-2025-en/1680b4e91d (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
European Commission. (2024). Labour market and wage developments in Europe 2024. Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/webpub/empl/lmwd-annual-review-leaflet-2024/ (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
European Commission. (2025a). Labour market and wage developments in Europe: Annual review 2025. Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/webpub/empl/lmwd-annual-review-report-2025/ (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
European Commission. (2025b). Study on contractual practices affecting the transfer of copyright and related rights and the ability of creators and producers to exploit their rights. Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/cs/publication-detail/-/publication/0710200c-103a-11f0-b1a3-01aa75ed71a1/language-en (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
European Parliament. (2023). Buy-out contracts imposed by platforms in the cultural and creative sector. Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2023/754184/IPOL_STU(2023)754184_EN.pdf (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
European Parliament and Council of the European Union. (2019). Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market. Official Journal of the European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/790/oj (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
Eurostat. (2026a). Real GDP growth rate. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tec00115/default/table?lang=en (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
Eurostat. (2026b). Labour costs. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lc_lci_lev__custom_21990206/default/table (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
Galgóczi, B. (2013). Two decades of wage developments and wage setting in central and eastern Europe. SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe, 16(3), 355–372. https://doi.org/10.5771/1435-2869-2013-3-355
-
Goos, M., Manning, A., & Salomons, A. (2014). Explaining job polarization: Routine-biased technological change and offshoring. American Economic Review, 104(8), 2509–2526. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.8.2509
-
Graetz, G., & Michaels, G. (2018). Robots at work. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 100(5), 753–768. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00754
-
International Monetary Fund. (2026). Wage dynamics in Europe: Drivers, institutional amplifiers, and policy spillovers (IMF Working Paper No. 2026/120). International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2026/06/12/wage-dynamics-in-europe-drivers-institutional-amplifiers-and-policy-spillovers-576876 (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
Kalfas, D., Kalogiannidis, S., Ambas, V., & Chatzitheodoridis, F. (2024). Contribution of the cultural and creative industries to regional development and revitalization: A European perspective. Urban Science, 8(2), Article 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8020039
-
Loots, E., & van Bennekom, S. (2023). Entrepreneurial firm growth in creative industries: Fitting in … and standing out! Creative Industries Journal, 16(3), 383–405. https://doi.org/10.1080/17510694.2022.2025710
-
Michaels, G., Natraj, A., & Van Reenen, J. (2014). Has ICT polarized skill demand? Evidence from eleven countries over twenty-five years. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 96(1), 60–77. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00366
-
Nieborg, D. B., & Poell, T. (2018). The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural commodity. New Media & Society, 20(11), 4275–4292. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818769694
-
Oleš, T., & Tan, P.-L. (2025). Digitalization, industry concentration, and labor dynamics: Evidence from CEE countries. Czech Journal of Economics and Finance, 75(2), 170–196. https://doi.org/10.32065/CJEF.2025.02.03
-
Senftleben, M., & Izyumenko, E. (2025). Author remuneration in the streaming age: Exploitation rights and fair remuneration rules in the EU. Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, 20(12), 807–824. https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpaf071
-
Society of Audiovisual Authors, CISAC, Writers & Directors Worldwide, & ZAPA. (2022). Poland’s audiovisual sector: Fair remuneration and economic growth: How the recognition of remuneration rights for audiovisual authors has helped support industry growth. https://www.cisac.org/Newsroom/articles/polands-audiovisual-sector-fair-remuneration-and-economic-growth-0 (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
UNCTAD. (2022). Creative economy outlook 2022. United Nations. https://unctad.org/publication/creative-economy-outlook-2022 (Accessed on 05/24/2026)
-
Vallas, S., & Schor, J. B. (2020). What do platforms do? Understanding the gig economy. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 46, 273–294. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857
-
van Laar, E., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., & van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2022). Developing policy aimed at 21st-century digital skills for the creative industries: An interview study with founders and managing directors. Journal of Education and Work, 35(2), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2022.2036710
-
Wang, Y., Xu, H., Li, X., & Zhang, Y. (2023). The interaction of cultural and creative industries clusters and regional economic resilience from the perspective of spatial analysis. Sustainability, 15(6), Article 5542. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065542
-
Willekens, M., Siongers, J., Pissens, L., & Lievens, J. (2018). Behind the screens: European survey on the remuneration of audiovisual authors. FERA, FSE, SAA, & Ghent University. https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8694284