Reviews conceptual and operational issues in defining the creative sector and its arts and cultural core. Using three pioneering cultural economy studies, each driven by distinctive policy agendas and constituencies, shows how the use of employment data by industry, firm and occupation affects the resulting size and content of the cultural economy. Shows that the Boston metro’s creative economy varies in size from less than 1% of its workforce to 49%, the latter using Richard Florida’s creative class, although most cultural definitions range from 1% to 4%. Explores how policymakers can use a combination of methods to produce a richer characterization of the regional cultural economy. Written by Ann Markusen, Gregory Wassall, Doug DeNatale and Randy Cohen; published in 2008 in Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 1: 24-45. [268] [LINK]