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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒02‒11
five papers chosen by Roberto Zanola Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” |
| By: | Ponzo, Michela (University of Naples Federico II); Scoppa, Vincenzo (University of Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Product quality is often unobservable ex-ante and consumers rely on experts' judgments, sometimes in the form of ratings or awards. Do awards affect consumers' choices or, conversely, are they conferred on the most popular products? To disentangle this issue, we use data about the most important Italian Literary Prize, the "Strega Prize", undertaking two different estimation strategies to evaluate the impact that winning the Prize has on book sales. First, we adopt a Regression Discontinuity Design using a measure of book sales as a dependent variable and as a forcing variable (proxying for intrinsic book quality) the jury votes received by each nominated book in the competition. We find that the Strega Prize has a very strong impact on sales. Second, by using weekly data on appearances on bestseller lists, we estimate a difference-in-differences model in which we compare sales performance of treated and control books before the award is conferred with their respective performances afterwards. The results confirm a huge influence of the Prize on book sales and show that most of the impact occurs in the weeks following the announcement of the Prize. |
| Keywords: | cultural economics, awards, asymmetric information, literary prize, book sales, product quality, regression discontinuity design, difference-in-differences model |
| JEL: | Z10 Z11 L15 L80 M30 D12 J44 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8765&r=cul |
| By: | Klimczuk, Andrzej |
| Abstract: | The aim of this article is to describe the general conditions for the development of creative industries in Podlaskie Voivodship from Poland. This region on the background of the country is characterized by the highest level of cultural diversity and multiculturalism policy. However, there are a number of barriers for the creative industries. First article discusses the regional characteristics and then the basic theoretical approaches and conclusions of the author's own research. The following sections discuss the conclusions and recommendations for regional policy and management of cultural sector entities that may be relevant also for other culturally diverse regions. |
| Keywords: | creative industries; management of cultural institutions; diversity; regional policy |
| JEL: | A14 L38 R58 Z10 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61883&r=cul |
| By: | Leroy , Frédéric; Paris, Thomas |
| Abstract: | The important role of entrepreneurship in the dynamics of the arts sector and the influence of the leader’s personality make succession a key issue in creative industries. What happens to an artistic organization when its founder leaves? How does it evolve? Can it adopt a style of management that is compatible with the founder’s absence? This article focuses on the case of Groupe Bernard Loiseau, an iconic French company in the culinary arts whose owner and chef died suddenly. It sheds light on how the question of succession and that of style were addressed in this organization and how they are addressed in artistic organizations in general. |
| Keywords: | Succession; culinary art; entrepreneurial management; creative industries |
| Date: | 2013–04–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1044&r=cul |
| By: | Neil Lee |
| Abstract: | Growing cultural diversity is seen as important for innovation. Research has focused on two potential mechanisms: a firm effect, with diversity at the firm level improving knowledge sourcing or ideas generation, and a city effect, where diverse cities helping firms innovate. This paper uses a dataset of over 2,000 UK SMEs to test between these two. Controlling for firm characteristics, city characteristics and firm and city diversity, there is strong evidence for the firm effect. Firms with a greater share of migrant owners or partners are more likely to introduce new products and processes. This effect has diminishing returns, suggesting that it is a ‘diversity’ effect rather than simply the benefits of migrant run firms. However, there is no relationship between the share of foreign workers in a local labour market and firm level innovation, nor do migrant-run firms in diverse cities appear particularly innovative. But urban context does matter and firms in London with more migrant owners and partners are more innovative than others. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity; innovation; cities; SMEs; migration |
| JEL: | J61 L21 M13 O11 O31 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57874&r=cul |
| By: | Max Nathan; Emma Vandore |
| Abstract: | The digital industries cluster known as 'Silicon Roundabout' has been quietly growing in East London since the 1990s. Now rebranded 'Tech City', it is now the focus of huge public and government attention. National and local policymakers wish to accelerate the local area's development: such cluster policies are back in vogue as part of a re-awakened interest in industrial policy in many developed countries. Surprisingly little is known about Tech City's firms or the wider ecosystem, however, and existing cluster policies have a high failure rate. This paper performs a detailed mixed-methods analysis, combining rich enterprise-level data with semi-structured interviews. We track firm and employment growth from 1997-2010 and identify a number of distinctive features: branching from creative to digital content industries, street-level sorting of firms, the importance of local amenities and a lack of conventional cluster actors such as universities or anchor businesses. We also argue that the existing policy mix embodies a number of tensions, and suggest areas for improvement. |
| Keywords: | digital economy; cities; clusters; innovation; London; silicon roundabout; tech city |
| JEL: | L2 L52 M13 O18 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:58424&r=cul |