In the a joint paper with Daniel Vossen and Christoph Alfken Rolf Sternberg elaborates on the spatial mobility of Richard Florida''s "Creative Class" in Germany. The paper was developed within the research project "Creative Lower Saxony" and has been financially supported by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. This paper tests three popular hypotheses related to migration patterns of Richard Florida’s ‘creative class’. Applying microdata, the authors calculate net migration rates for creative class members for all German planning regions and use a combination of principal component analysis and multiple regressions to explain them by determinants suggested by Florida. They use a unique measure to determine Florida’s gay index, use net migration rates and distinguish between creative class subgroups. The results partially support Florida, but hard location factors are much more important than tolerance, openness or amenities. Accordingly, the authors develop recommendations for numerous policy initiatives supporting creative industries in Germany
