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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2019‒02‒11
five papers chosen by Roberto Zanola Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Naoto JINJI; Ayumu TANAKA |
| Abstract: | After a long and heated argument on whether international trade in cultural goods should be an exception to free trade, UNESCO's Convention on Cultural Diversity (CCD) was adopted and entered into force in 2007 to protect and promote cultural diversity. This paper provides the rst empirical assessment of the impact of CCD on trade in cultural goods. By using trade data for 2004{2010 and employing the rst-differenced difference-in-differences method, we estimate the effects of ratifying CCD on the imports of cultural goods and on the extensive margin of cultural imports. Our estimation results provide little evidence that CCD is an instrument of disguised protectionism. Furthermore, we nd that CCD contracting countries tend to increase the country margins of cultural imports for some subcategories of cultural goods more than CCD non-contracting countries. This change implies that CCD contributes to the promotion of cultural diversity. |
| Keywords: | trade and culture; cultural goods; UNESCO's Convention on Cultural Diversity; Difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | F13 F14 Z10 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kue:epaper:e-18-008&r=all |
| By: | Gruber, Marc. |
| Abstract: | There are nearly 30 million culture and media workers globally, and their work makes a significant contribution to their respective countries’ social and economic development. The creative and collaborative nature of their work – compounded by continuous technological developments – has resulted in a proliferation of diverse working arrangements for culture and media workers, including freelance, self-employment, and part-time work. Such arrangements can offer independence, flexibility and employment opportunities, but can also affect their working conditions, their ability to participate in collective bargaining or fully enjoy freedom of association, as well as their access basic social protection. The present analysis brings to light the extremely diversified employment conditions and decent work issues within these sectors. It also highlight gaps and policy options to ensure that specific types of employment relationships, and the need for flexibility and independence among the workers in the culture and media sectors, do not undermine these workers’ right to equitable treatment, regardless of their contractual relationship. It also provides concrete guidance around measures needed to ensure that workers in the media and culture sectors can adapt to the work of the future, including actions to adjust the market and (re)training these workers in the light of technological developments. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995012793402676&r=all |
| By: | Hunt Allcott; Luca Braghieri; Sarah Eichmeyer; Matthew Gentzkow |
| Abstract: | The rise of social media has provoked both optimism about potential societal benefits and concern about harms such as addiction, depression, and political polarization. We present a randomized evaluation of the welfare effects of Facebook, focusing on US users in the run-up to the 2018 midterm election. We measured the willingness-to-accept of 2,844 Facebook users to deactivate their Facebook accounts for four weeks, then randomly assigned a subset to actually do so in a way that we verified. Using a suite of outcomes from both surveys and direct measurement, we show that Facebook deactivation (i) reduced online activity, including other social media, while increasing offline activities such as watching TV alone and socializing with family and friends; (ii) reduced both factual news knowledge and political polarization; (iii) increased subjective well-being; and (iv) caused a large persistent reduction in Facebook use after the experiment. We use participants' pre-experiment and post-experiment Facebook valuations to quantify the extent to which factors such as projection bias might cause people to overvalue Facebook, finding that the magnitude of any such biases is likely minor relative to the large consumer surplus that Facebook generates. |
| JEL: | D12 D90 I31 L86 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25514&r=all |
| By: | Batabyal, Amitrajeet; Yoo, Seung Jick |
| Abstract: | Consider an aggregate economy of two cities. We study the impact that the use of utilitarian and Rawlsian policies by these two cities has on their ability to attract members of the the creative class. We first focus on the case in which both cities adopt utilitarian policies. Second, we analyze the case where both cities implement Rawlsian policies. Third, we study the case where one city uses a Rawlsian policy but the other city pursues a utilitarian policy. Fourth, we compare the policy outcomes in the first and the third cases above and show that if one city switches to a Rawlsian or more egalitarian objective when the other city remains utilitarian, the aggregate economy becomes less egalitarian. Finally, we compare the second and the third cases above and demonstrate that if one city switches to a Rawlsian or more egalitarian objective when the other city remains Rawlsian, the aggregate economy becomes more egalitarian. |
| Keywords: | City, Creative Class, Egalitarian, Rawlsian, Utilitarian |
| JEL: | D63 R11 |
| Date: | 2019–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:91827&r=all |
| By: | Van Damme, Nils; Baert, Stijn |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether the home advantage in soccer differs by various dimensions of distance between the (regions of the) home and away teams: geographical distance, climatic differences, cultural distance, and disparities in economic prosperity. To this end, we analyse 2,012 recent matches played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. We find that when the home team plays at a higher altitude, they benefit substantially more from their home advantage. Every 100 meters of altitude difference is associated with an increase in expected probability to win the match, as the home team, by 1.1 percentage points. |
| Keywords: | Soccer,home advantage,cultural distance,UEFA Champions League,UEFA Europa League |
| JEL: | L83 J44 Z00 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:314&r=all |