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on Cultural Economics |
| By: | Stefania Lionetti (Institute of Economic Research (IRE), University of Lugano); Roberto Patuelli (Institute of Economic Research (IRE), University of Lugano; The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (RCEA)) |
| Abstract: | The issue of digital piracy as violation of intellectual property rights is a hot button among many governments around the world. Until now, nor legislation or its enforcement have managed to keep up with the most recent technologies facilitating piracy. Piracy rates may significantly affect both internal demand and international trade of cultural goods. This paper aims to empirically assess the effect of digital piracy on bilateral trade in cultural goods. We focus on trade in music and media. Analysing an 11-year panel of 25 countries, we find that piracy does affect negatively bilateral trade, although to a varying extent. |
| Keywords: | trade; cultural goods; piracy; spatial filtering; network autocorrelation |
| JEL: | F1 C23 Z11 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lug:wpaper:0907&r=cul |
| By: | Sobbrio, Francesco |
| Abstract: | We model a market for news where profit maximizing media outlets choose their editors from a population of rational citizens. We show that when information acquisition is costly, liberal (conservative) citizens find optimal to acquire information from a media outlet having a liberal (conservative) editor. Consequently, we show that depending on the distribution of citizens' ideological preferences, a media outlet may choose to hire a non-moderate editor even in a monopolistic market. Moreover, the higher the degree of competition in the market for news, the more likely that media outlets will hire non-moderate editors. Finally, less moderate editors are more likely to be hired in a news market where the opportunity cost of acquiring information for citizens is low. |
| Keywords: | Media Bias; Information Acquisition; Valence; Competition |
| JEL: | D81 D72 D83 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18213&r=cul |
| By: | Laia Domènech Campmajó (PPRE-IREA, University of Barcelona, Spain) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that affect the market penetration of pay television by studying the competition that exists between three types of technology (satellite, cable and ADSL). We distinguish three groups of factors: the level of market competition, the level of competition in the industry and the quality of the product being offered. Our results seem to indicate that as market concentration increases, the television service can achieve greater penetration. This relationship is specifically captured by the level of intra- and inter-platform competition. We also examine the relationship between free television channels and pay television and find that as the amount of time dedicated to the broadcasting of advertising by the former increases, the number of subscribers to pay TV rises. Finally, we examine product quality by introducing the effect of holding the rights to broadcast Professional Football League matches and an HBO or Showtime produced series. Our results suggest that these variables are critical for the penetration of pay television. |
| Keywords: | pay TV, competition between platforms, telecommunications. |
| JEL: | L82 L96 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2009-9&r=cul |
| By: | Sandeep Kapur; Mamta Murthi (School of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics, Birkbeck) |
| Abstract: | Literacy refers to an individual’s ability to communicate through reading and writing. The literacy rate for any population measures the fraction of the population, above a certain cut-off age, that is literate. Based on the most recent statistics compiled by UNESCO, more than one in three Indians above the age of 15 years is unable to read and write. Further, the roughly 268 million adult illiterates in India constitute one-third of the global population of illiterates. International comparisons show that the Indian literacy rate is well below those for other populous countries like China and also below those for developing countries in general. |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbk:bbkefp:0907&r=cul |
| By: | Raul Caruso (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano) |
| Abstract: | What is the broad impact of sport participation and sport activities in a society? The first aim of this paper is tackling this crucial point by studying whether or not there is a relationship between sport participation and crime. A panel dataset have been constructed for the twenty Italian regions over the period 1997-2003. The impact of spot participation on different type of crimes has been studied. Results show that: (i) there is a robust negative association between sport participation and property crime; (ii) There is a robust negative association between sport participation and juvenile crime; (iii) There is a positive association between sport participation and violent crime, but it is only weakly significant. |
| Keywords: | Sport participation, relational goods, crime, Kenneth Boulding |
| JEL: | L83 D62 |
| Date: | 2009–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:auncer:2009_60&r=cul |