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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2025–01–27
five papers chosen by Roberto Zanola, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Taylor Jaworski; Erik O. Kimbrough; Nicole Saito |
| Abstract: | We propose a new measure of cultural distance based on differences in the composition of first names and church denominations between locations. We use a gravity equation to estimate the elasticity of migration flows with respect to the two components of cultural distance as well as a standard measure of travel costs via the transportation network in the United States between 1850 and 1870. Our findings indicate a modest role for cultural distance relative to travel costs in explaining migration flows. We construct migration costs that reflect the distinct contributions of cultural distance and travel costs, and use an economic geography model of migration to quantify their effects. Travel costs are substantially more important than cultural distance for aggregate welfare. Nevertheless, we provide evidence that the components of cultural distance play a role in shaping of how many people move and their final destinations. |
| JEL: | N0 N71 N91 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33192 |
| By: | Luigi Guiso; Paola Sapienza; Luigi Zingales |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the concept of embedded culture played a transformative role in the ongoing cultural revolution within economics and business. We trace the field's shift from the 20th-century concept of homo economicus universalis to an approach incorporating cultural embeddedness in economic behavior. Beyond documenting this intellectual transformation, we identify fertile areas for future research and explore how an embedded cultural perspective can enhance both our understanding of economic phenomena and the design of effective policies. |
| JEL: | D21 M14 Z1 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33268 |
| By: | Eric Tafani (AMU - Aix Marseille Université, CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon, AMU IAE - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Aix-en-Provence - AMU - Aix Marseille Université); Franck Vigneron (CSUN - California State University [Northridge]); Audrey Azoulay (Carroll School of Management, Boston College); Sandrine Crener (Harvard Business School - Harvard University); Abdul Zahid (South Champagne Business School) |
| Abstract: | Culture and gender differences in values associated with luxury consumption are investigated. Two Western individualistic-oriented countries with mature luxury markets (France and the United States) and two Eastern collectivistic-oriented countries with developing luxury markets (the United Arab Emirates and China) are compared using Roux, Tafani and Vigneron's (2017) model of luxury values. Main results indicate that refinement, heritage, and to a lesser extent, exclusivity receive greater emphasis in Western rather than Eastern countries. Chinese and US consumers place particular emphasis on elitism.Additionally, gender shapes the importance placed on luxury values: men emphasize elitism (and exclusivity in Western countries only), whereas women emphasize refinement.Furthermore, the adherence to own-gender beliefs (i.e., traits attributed to one's gender) fully mediates gender influence within all four countries. Theoretical implications are discussed based on major frameworks of national culture and the social structural theory (Eagly and Wood, 1999). Managerial implications in terms of cultural and gendered adaptation of marketing strategies are considered. |
| Keywords: | Luxury brand values, Luxury consumption, Cultural values, Western and Eastern cultures, Gender, Gender Beliefs |
| Date: | 2024–12–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04775219 |
| By: | Ali Goli; Jason Huang; David Reiley; Nickolai M. Riabov |
| Abstract: | A randomized experiment with almost 35 million Pandora listeners enables us to measure the sensitivity of consumers to advertising, an important topic of study in the era of ad-supported digital content provision. The experiment randomized listeners into nine treatment groups, each of which received a different level of audio advertising interrupting their music listening, with the highest treatment group receiving more than twice as many ads as the lowest treatment group. By maintaining consistent treatment assignment for 21 months, we measure long-run demand effects and find ad-load sensitivity three times greater than what we would have obtained from a month-long experiment. We show the negative impact on the number of hours listened, days listened, and probability of listening at all in the final month. Using an experimental design that separately varies the number of commercial interruptions per hour and the number of ads per commercial interruption, we find that listeners primarily respond to the total number of ads per hour, with a slight preference for more frequent but shorter ad breaks. Lastly, we find that increased ad load led to an increase in the number of paid ad-free subscriptions to Pandora. Importantly, we show that observational methods often lead to biased or even directionally incorrect estimates of these effects, highlighting the value of experimental data. |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2412.05516 |
| By: | Liang Zhong; Angela Crema; M. Daniele Paserman |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of discrimination that allows us to interpret observed differences in outcomes across groups, conditional on passing a screening test, as taste-based (employer, ) statistical, or customer discrimination. We apply this framework to investigate the nature of non-white underrepresentation in the US motion picture industry. Leveraging a novel data set with racial identifiers for the cast of 7, 000 motion pictures, we show that, conditional on production, non-white movies exhibit higher average revenues and a smaller variance. Our findings can be rationalized in the context of our model if non-white movies are held to higher standards for production. |
| JEL: | J15 J70 L82 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33186 |