Abstract
Nowadays, the creative industries sector is one of the fastest growing in both developed and developing countries. In this paper, we considered countries with transition economies such as Kazakhstan, which have regional specifics, and political narratives. This research contributes to the construction of a theory of the development of creative industries in emerging markets. In order to study the features of the development of creative industries in countries with emerging economies, a survey was conducted among representatives of the sector. This study applied a mixed-method design. First, a survey was conducted to understand the landscape of creative industries in Kazakhstan, one of the post-Soviet Union countries. This approach allowed us to comprehend the types of businesses, founders’ activity, funding structure, and barriers to development. Second, 34 semi-structured interviews were conducted with founders who agreed to a follow-up interview. The survey included areas such as type of business, founder activities, funding structure, and barriers to the development of creative industries in Kazakhstan, with the aim of studying how representatives of the sector cope with the difficulties of starting a creative business in particular, the motivation of founders, factors, and obstacles to success. This study highlighted the significance of mentorship and inspiration in creative industries in emerging markets. The results show the lack of support from the state, as well as the lack of human resources. The lack of skills is linked to the creative brain drain in Kazakhstan, and access to materials and technologies is a key problem since most of the resources are foreign-made and imported.