nep-cul New Economics Papers
on Cultural Economics
Issue of 2022‒02‒28
five papers chosen by
Roberto Zanola
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale

  1. Technical Change and Superstar Effects: Evidence from the Rollout of Television By Koenig, Felix
  2. How the "Lejabys" came into being : artists and workers in struggle. A spatio-temporal odyssey between mobilising and organising. By Géraldine Schmidt; Damien Mourey; Natalia Bobadilla
  3. Cultural institutions struggling for relevance: the story of changes at an Italian Foundation By Nicole Moolhuijsen; Monica Calcagno
  4. A theory of cultural revivals By Murat Iyigun; Jared Rubin; Avner Seror
  5. Cultural Inequality and Sustainable Development By Most Asikha Aktar; Md Mahmudul Alam

  1. By: Koenig, Felix (Carnegie Mellon University)
    Abstract: Technical change that extends market scale can generate winner-take-all dynamics, with large income growth among top earners. I test this "superstar model" in the entertainer labor market, where the historic rollout of television creates a natural experiment in scale-related technological change. The resulting inequality changes are consistent with superstar theory: the launch of a local TV station skews the entertainer wage distribution sharply to the right, with the biggest impact at the very top of the distribution, while negatively impacting workers below the star level. The findings provide evidence of superstar effects and distinguish such effects from popular alternative models.
    Keywords: superstar effect, inequality, top incomes, technical change
    JEL: J31 J23 O33 D31
    Date: 2021–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14978&r=
  2. By: Géraldine Schmidt (IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School); Damien Mourey (UPF - Université de la Polynésie Française); Natalia Bobadilla (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - LABEX ICCA - UP13 - Université Paris 13 - Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UP - Université de Paris - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord)
    Abstract: Art and other creative approaches can be a resource or a mobilizing strategy for activists and artists. Little work has been done, however, on what happens in the interactions between artists and activists in the daily life of a conflict. We suggest that social mobilizations may be seen as organizing processes as well as mobilizing actions, and we analyze how creative and artistic approaches may contribute to this organizing/mobilizing reciprocal relationship. Based on an analysis of the conflict that accompanied the announcement of the Lejaby plant closure in Yssingeaux in 2012, and which inspired several artists, we show that these approaches, by their capacity to grasp sensitive dimensions, favour spatio-temporal episodes that structure the struggle: some constitute protected spaces, which can correspond to an intimate reflexive time or to a collective moment of synchronization of subjective temporalities ; others correspond to hybridized spaces, which can be sometimes empowering, sometimes theatrical. We thus contribute both to the field of social movement analysis, and to the role of art and creativity in the organization and mobilization within these movements; we also contribute to a relational reading of the spatial and temporal dimensions of organization and collective action, in the tradition of Lefebvre and Massey.
    Abstract: Les démarches créatives ou artistiques peuvent constituer des ressources ou des stratégies de mobilisation pour les activistes et les artistes. La littérature s'est peu intéressée néanmoins aux interactions entre les artistes et les activistes dans le quotidien d'un conflit. Nous suggérons de voir les luttes sociales comme des processus organisants (organizing) autant que comme des actions de mobilisation (mobilizing) et d'analyser en quoi les démarches créatives et artistiques contribuent à cette relation réciproque organizing/mobilizing. A partir d'une analyse du conflit qui a accompagné l'annonce de la fermeture de l'usine Lejaby à Yssingeaux en 2012, et qui a inspiré plusieurs démarches artistiques et créatives, nous montrons que ces démarches, par leur capacité à s'emparer de dimensions sensibles, favorisent des épisodes spatio-temporels structurants pour la lutte : certains constituent des espaces protégés, qui peuvent correspondre à un temps réflexif intime ou à un moment collectif de synchronisation des temporalités subjectives, d'autres correspondent à des espaces hybridés, qui peuvent être tantôt capacitants, tantôt théâtralisés. Nous contribuons à la fois au champ de l'analyse des mouvements sociaux, et du rôle de l'art et de la créativité dans l'organisation et la mobilisation de ces mouvements, mais également à une lecture relationnelle des dimensions spatiales et temporelles de l'organisation et de l'action collective, dans la lignée de Lefebvre et Massey.
    Keywords: Social conflict,Social movement,Art – Creativity,Arts-based methods,Time,Space
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03507126&r=
  3. By: Nicole Moolhuijsen (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Monica Calcagno (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice)
    Abstract: In the last decades museums all around the world have been pressured by different forces and actors to rethink their social relevance and embrace new responsibilities and roles. Even though the dedicated literature outlines there is no single path to relevance, discussions generally focus on meaning-making, organisational change and relationship with the constituencies. A pitfall in the ongoing debate on relevance is the lack of analysis concerning how these internationally common challenges intersect with specific geographical, political and cultural factors, whose entanglement with one’s institution history and identity often transforms in resistances towards processes of institutional change. This paper analyses these multifaceted aspects through the case study of the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice, building on the interdisciplinary research carried out with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (2016-2020) and the memoir of one collaborator of the Foundation and co-author of this paper. The paper intersects diverse methodologies and perspectives.
    Keywords: social relevance; organisational change; interpretation; cultural policy; Venice
    Date: 2022–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vnm:wpdman:188&r=
  4. By: Murat Iyigun (University of Colorado [Boulder]); Jared Rubin (Chapman University); Avner Seror (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: Why do some societies have political institutions that support productively inefficient outcomes? And why does the political power of elites vested in these outcomes often grow over time, even when they are unable to block more efficient modes of production? We propose an explanation centered on the interplay between political and cultural change. We build a model in which cultural values are transmitted inter-generationally. The cultural composition of society, in turn, determines public-goods provision as well as the future political power of elites from different cultural groups. We characterize the equilibrium of the model and provide sufficient conditions for the emergence of cultural revivals. These are characterized as movements in which both the cultural composition of society as well as the political power of elites who are vested in productively inefficient outcomes grow over time. We reveal the usefulness of our framework by applying it to two case studies: the Jim Crow South and Turkey's Gülen Movement.
    Keywords: Institutions,Cultural beliefs,Cultural transmission,Institutional change
    Date: 2021–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03545183&r=
  5. By: Most Asikha Aktar (Comilla University); Md Mahmudul Alam (UUM - Universiti Utara Malaysia)
    Date: 2021–03–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03520087&r=

This nep-cul issue is ©2022 by Roberto Zanola. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.