nep-cul New Economics Papers
on Cultural Economics
Issue of 2024‒02‒26
three papers chosen by
Roberto Zanola, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale


  1. Evaluating the quality of UNESCO World Heritage List: a comparison with the Baedeker's guidebooks By Martina Dattilo; Fabio Padovano
  2. The Growth of OTT Platforms' Investments in Korean Content and Opportunities for Global Expansion By Park, Ji Hye
  3. Understanding Creative Entrepreneurs' Work Practices: The Varying Conversation between Artistic and Economic Rationales By Margot Leclair; Cédric Dalmasso

  1. By: Martina Dattilo (UNITO - Università degli studi di Torino = University of Turin); Fabio Padovano (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: This study verifies whether the number of criteria of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) satisfied by a site in the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) can be considered as an ordinal measure of its quality against the alternative hypotheses that: a) quality can be measured just dichotomously, by inclusion in the WHL); b) the multiplicity of existing OUV is just meant to capture alternative aesthetic criteria expressed by different cultures. This issue is important for both scientific and policy reasons. To avoid problems of endogeneity and reverse causality, we examine the correlation between the number of satisfied criteria and the evaluation of the site's quality made by an authoritative travel guidebook that pre-existed UNESCO, the Baedeker's guide of the early twentieth century. Exploiting a newly assembled dataset on 234 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) in 10 European countries from 11 Baedeker's guidebooks, from 1899 to 1911, we proxy the Baedeker's evaluations of quality by four measures: (1) total number of citations of the site; (2) weighted number of citations; (3) average length of the paragraphs with at least one citation; and (4) sentiment expressed in the text. All these measures appear positively and significantly correlated with the number of UNESCO criteria that the site satisfies, using a variety of strategies and robustness checks, confirming that they are an informative ordinal proxy for the quality of UNESCO WHS. Moreover, this analysis brings evidence to bear on the debate about the formation and persistence of UNESCO experts' evaluations over time.
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04388046&r=cul
  2. By: Park, Ji Hye (Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade)
    Abstract: Korean dramas and films have secured prominent positions as the leading genres driving the hallyu wave. This owes in part to the increase in Over-The-Top (OTT) platform users during COVID-19, when audiences worldwide watched Korean dramas and films on streaming platforms in large numbers, and multinational OTT platform companies such as Netflix, Disney+, and Apple have since made substantial investments in Korean content. As competition intensifies among OTT platforms in the market, competing firms are pursuing differentiated strategies by producing and securing their own content, flooding the market with more Korean dramas and movies. Two major platforms in the OTT market, Netflix and Disney+, in particular are investing in Korean content. Moreover, these platforms provide Korean works with subtitles and dubbing in local languages, facilitating the accessibility of Korean content in foreign markets. Investments in the production of original content by global OTT platforms are exerting a significant influence on the domestic content industry as well. Domestic firms can access production funding, produce high-quality content, have their content widely distributed, and have opportunities for international expansion. However, concerns have arisen regarding IP ownership issues. Given the overreliance on substantial investments by Netflix, there are calls within the industry to prepare for an interruption of this investment. In addition, as Netflix tends to invest in larger production companies, smaller-scale production houses are seeing fewer opportunities. Establishing criteria for securing IP rights and a stable investment system within the domestic content industry is crucial to ensuring the continued creation and global expansion of Korean content to diverse international markets.
    Keywords: K-Dramas; K-pop; Hallyu; Korean wave; OTT; streaming platforms; Netflix; Disney; Disney+; Tving; Watcha; Wavve; Squid Game; The Glory; content industry; television industry; K-content; Korea; KIET
    JEL: L82 L86
    Date: 2023–12–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kieter:2023_029&r=cul
  3. By: Margot Leclair (AMU - Aix Marseille Université, LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, InCIAM - Institut de Créativité et d'Innovation d'Aix-Marseille Université); Cédric Dalmasso (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: Research on creative organizations often questions how artistic practices can be squared within the rational decision-making of economic thinking. This paper examines how the relational language, or conversation, between artistic and economic rationales unfolds for creative entrepreneurs. Through ethnographic work with a designer-entrepreneur, this paper presents a fine-grained analysis of the conversation the designer cultivates between artistic and economic rationales through work practices. We contribute to the literature about artistic and economic rationales at work, and more specifically to the concept of conversation. First, we show that high levels of conversing make way for low levels of conversing and vice versa. In the studio, the designer's engagement with either rationale varies as the creative process progresses. Second, on a more global dynamic, we demonstrate the conversation is continuous. It relies on its variations, which ensure the balance between rationales in the long run. We also contribute to the field of creative entrepreneurship research. We identify here one type of creative entrepreneur, with what we call a 'small is beautiful' attitude. Far from the mythical figure of the entrepreneur, this unconventional entrepreneur aims for sustainable use of creative resources rather than growth at all costs.
    Keywords: Creative industries creative entrepreneurship artistic economic conversation, Creative industries, creative entrepreneurship, artistic, economic, conversation
    Date: 2024–01–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04412755&r=cul

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