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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2014‒04‒18
three papers chosen by Roberto Zanola Universita' del Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro |
| By: | Tobias Kretschmer; Christian Peukert |
| Abstract: | Sampling poses an interesting problem in markets with experience goods. Free samples reveal product quality and help consumers to make informed purchase decisions (promotional effect). However, sampling may also induce consumers to substitute purchases with free consumption (displacement effect). We study this trade-o_ in the market for digital music where consumers can sample the quality of songs by watching free music videos online. Identification comes from a natural experiment in Germany, where virtually all videos that contain music are blocked on a popular video platform due to a legal dispute with representatives of the rights-holders. We show that promotional and displacement effects cancel out in the sales performance of individual songs, whereas online music videos trigger sales of albums. |
| Keywords: | Sampling, displacement, promotion, natural experiment |
| JEL: | L82 M37 D83 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1265&r=cul |
| By: | Emiko Kakiuchi (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies); Kiyoshi Takeuchi (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | Due to social and economic changes and ongoing globalization, attention has recently been paid to the importance of creativity and creative industries. In this article we use official statistics to estimate the actual volume of creative industries in Japan. We find that most industries categorized as creative, with the exception of software and computer service, are not growing either in terms of sales or the number of employees. Data analysis indicates that creative industries are primarily small and medium-sized domestic enterprises which are comparatively weak in productivity. However, our study also shows that the categorization of industries as creative or non-creative involves extremely complex questions, and that such a simple two-way classification might not be realistic. Some evidence also suggests that culturally creative activities might be increasing in industries classified as non-creative. |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:14-04&r=cul |
| By: | Arseniy Khitrov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Studies of representations of the police are important because they affect what people think about the police as an organization, what people expect from day-to-day interactions with police officers, and how police officers themselves work in the media-saturated context of contemporary Western societies. This study is based on an approach, which does not strictly separate studies of the police as an organization from studies of how the police are represented. In this paper, I formulate a methodological framework for analysing representations of societal and state institutions in TV series, and I use this framework to then answer the question of how the police are represented in contemporary police TV series in Russia. This paper based on a single-case semiotic study of a popular Russian TV series called Glukhar’. I consider the show’s social and cultural contexts as well as its symbolic structures, such as visual and audial elements and its narrative. I develop a narrative model of the show, argue that the most prominent motif of the show is justification of the police’s illegal actions, and finally build a typology of these justifications. I propose a detailed analysis of two types of justifications and ultimately conclude that the TV show represents the police estranged from the state but not from society. Finally, I argue that my methodological framework can be applied to other TV series in studies, which address representations of societal and state institutions. |
| Keywords: | representation, police, TV, series, legitimacy, Russia, crime, drama |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:41hum2014&r=cul |