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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2025–10–13
seven papers chosen by Roberto Zanola, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Alberto Galasso; El Hadi Caoui |
| Abstract: | Creative content is often the product of collaboration, which may lead to fractional ownership of intellectual property. We study the effect of fractional ownership on the licensing of copyrighted material and its reuse. To do so, we compile new data on the copyright ownership structure of songs and their licensing for use in movies. We document that fractional song ownership has increased substantially: the mean number of songwriters and publishers per song has tripled between 1958 and 2021. We show that, conditional on a rich set of controls, greater fractionalization is associated with lower likelihood of licensing. We leverage the Sony-led acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 to obtain within-song variation in ownership and find that consolidating ownership rights significantly increases licensing, beyond any standalone effects of the merger. |
| JEL: | K11 L8 O32 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34336 |
| By: | Elena Bellio (Venice School of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Francesco Casarin (Venice School of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Massimiliano Nuccio (Venice School of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice) |
| Abstract: | The concept of Digital Transformation has been the subject of extensive research, yet it remains difficult to define it with precision. What is universally acknowledged is that Digital Transformation represents a significant shift that can be revolutionary for an organization or even an entire industry. However, there has been relatively little investigation into how cultural institutions, particularly museums, engage with this phenomenon. Most studies tend to adopt a case study approach that focuses on the implementation of a single digital solution, often neglecting the broader context. Additionally, research in marketing typically emphasizes the visitor experience, largely underestimating the perspectives of museum management. The present study follows a literature review design by deepening the knowledge on different steams of previous research. Studies on digital transformation and technology adoption are taken into account in building the conclusion. Through this comprehensive investigation, a contribution is given to the digital evolution in cultural management providing valuable insights specifically oriented to museums |
| Keywords: | digital transformation, museums, Italy, innovation process |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vnm:wpdman:218 |
| By: | Tin Cheuk Leung (Department of Economics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA); Shi Qi (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary University, Williamsburg, VA, USA); Koleman Strumpf (Department of Economics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA) |
| Abstract: | Self-preferencing by dominant digital platforms has become a focal point for antitrust scrutiny, yet little empirical work has examined this behavior in the context of video streaming. This paper provides the first systematic analysis of self-preferencing on a subscription-based streaming platform, focusing on Netflix. We assemble a novel dataset that combines a weekly panel of Netflix’s U.S. catalog from 2016 to 2025, official Top 10 rankings since 2021, Wikipedia page views as an external proxy for popularity, and device-level streaming data from tens of millions of U.S. smart TVs. We begin by showing that the exit of licensed series significantly increases the likelihood of subscriber churn, whereas the effect of movie exits is small and even slightly negative. This underscores the risks of dependence on non-original serialized content and motivates Netflix’s incentives to promote Originals. We then document that Netflix Originals are substantially more likely to appear in the Top 10 rankings than non-originals, conditional on popularity and availability. The magnitude of this self-preferencing effect is comparable to the influence of popularity itself, especially for serialized content. Finally, using a difference-in-differences design with matched titles, we show that Top 10 inclusion has a significant causal impact on subsequent viewer engagement, with stronger effects for Originals. Taken together, our findings suggest that Netflix leverages interface prominence to steer attention toward its proprietary content while insulating itself from the risks associated with expiring licenses, raising important implications for content competition and platform governance in the streaming era. |
| Keywords: | Self-Preferencing; Netflix; Digital Platforms; Platform Bias |
| JEL: | D22 K21 L40 L82 M21 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2508 |
| By: | Hendrik Sonnabend (University of Hagen); Matthias Westphal (University of Hagen and RWI Essen) |
| Abstract: | Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we estimate how having children affects parents’ participation in arts, high- and lowbrow cultural activities, and sports. Identification combines three complementary, wellestablished strategies: (i) an event-study design around first births; (ii) twin births as exogenous shocks to second and third births; and (iii) sex-composition preferences as an exogenous driver of third births. Following first births, average participation falls by 13–54%, with event-study dynamics showing large short-run drops and a slow, incomplete recovery within ten years. We also document pronounced gender heterogeneity: mothers experience larger immediate declines, while fathers are more affected on the extensive margin (any participation). By contrast, effects of second and third births are mixed; when present, they are modest and tend to fade as children age. |
| Keywords: | Cultural participation, artistic activities, fertility, gender |
| JEL: | C36 J13 J16 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cue:wpaper:awp-07-2025 |
| By: | Jerg Gutmann; Anna Lewczuk-Czerwińska; Jacek Lewkowicz; Stefan Voigt |
| Abstract: | Constitutions as the formal foundation of a country’s legal and political system have important economic and political effects. Yet, we still know little about why constitutions set effective constraints on politicians in some societies, while being largely disregarded in others. Here, we ask if national culture matters for constitutional compliance. We study a cross-section of 115 countries, making use of novel indicators of constitutional compliance. We find that societies with a more individualistic population exhibit higher levels of compliance. These results are robust and extend to instrumental variable estimations. They imply a novel transmission channel from cultural traits to long-term economic development: individualistic national culture increases the credibility of constitutional self-commitments. Our analysis also supports the more general idea that the effects of formal institutions depend on the informal institutional environment in which they are embedded. Regarding religion, our results are consistent with past research that attributes the lack of development in the modern Muslim world to deficient institutional quality. |
| Keywords: | constitutional compliance, culture, individualism, Islam, long-term orientation, moral universalism, power distance, rule of law |
| JEL: | H11 K1 K42 P48 Z10 Z12 Z18 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12182 |
| By: | Pere Gomez; Oriol Amat |
| Abstract: | This article focuses on identifying the sporting and financial variables that explain success both on the field and in the economic management of football teams. This is a relevant topic because modern football has become a multimillion-dollar business, and understanding the keys to success is essential not only for improving sporting performance but also for ensuring the financial stability of clubs. To simplify the multitude of variables that can affect both sporting and financial performance, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used. This method reduces the complexity of the data to just two key factors: the size of the club (measured by variables such as revenue, personnel costs, and market value) and financial performance (based on the Z-score credit evaluation model by Amat & others, 2017, and reflects a synthesis of indicators such as liquidity, debt, and profitability). These two factors are considered the most representative variables for understanding club success. Once these two factors are identified, a regression model is applied to see how size and financial performance influence sporting success, measured by points obtained in the competition. The analysis shows that the size of the club has a significant relationship with sporting success. In other words, clubs with higher revenue, investment in transfers, and a more valuable squad tend to achieve better results in terms of points. On the other hand, financial performance, while important for the club's economic health, is not a determining factor for short-term sporting success. The study also categorizes clubs into four types: those that achieve both sporting and financial success, those that excel in the sporting arena but have poor financial performance, those with financial success but not sporting success, and those that do not achieve good results either on the field or in economic management. This approach allows for the identification of patterns and trends in the relationship between sporting and financial success, providing a useful tool for analyzing football clubs and their management strategies. |
| Keywords: | Sporting success, economic success, football clubs, turnover, investment in players, principal components analysis, regression analysis, Spanish first football division |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1900 |
| By: | Pipke, David |
| Abstract: | Influential studies by Price and Wolfers (2010) and Pope et al. (2018) document racial bias among NBA referees and suggest that heightened awareness can reduce it. Using an independently assembled player–game dataset for 1988–2025 that links box scores to referee crews, I replicate the original findings and extend them. Racial bias is present in 1988–2007 and largely absent in 2007–2014, reemerges in 2015–2019, and disappears again from 2020 onward. Merging games to county–day measures of Black Lives Matter protest activity, I find lower bias when local protest intensity is higher. These associations are consistent with awareness-driven reductions in discrimination. |
| Date: | 2025–09–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:yg6ap_v1 |