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on Cultural Economics |
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Issue of 2026–09–28
four papers chosen by Roberto Zanola, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Christian Peukert |
| Abstract: | Copyright can encourage creative production by giving owners control over the use of a work, but the same control can make access and follow-on creation more costly. Assessing this tradeoff requires knowing how copyright revenue is distributed along the creative value chain and which economic decisions change as a result. We synthesize empirical evidence on creative labor, contracts and payments, investment by intermediaries, and the licensing and use of existing works. Historical and experimental evidence shows that expected rewards and additional resources can increase creative activity, although the response depends on the payment arrangement and the task. Contracts divide revenue and specify who supplies finance and services and who bears demand risk. Evidence that the share retained by intermediaries causes additional creative production remains limited. For existing works, fragmented ownership can obstruct licensing and the consolidation of complementary permissions can increase use, while creator control is associated with greater availability. Generative artificial intelligence makes the unresolved distributional question especially visible: the owners paid for access to existing material are not necessarily the creators whose future sales or commissions face competition. We develop a research agenda around three questions: who ultimately receives copyright revenue, whether additional income changes production, and how ownership affects access and reuse. Evidence on these relationships is needed to distinguish private returns from copyright's effects on social welfare. |
| Keywords: | copyright, creator incentives, ownership, cultural intermediaries, intellectual property finance, reuse, generative artificial intelligence |
| JEL: | O34 Z11 L82 D23 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12996 |
| By: | Adams, Renée |
| Abstract: | I use data on values to challenge the belief that women produce art of lower value. Using occupational data in the European Social Survey (ESS) and OLS regressions, I show that women are more likely to be artists in more gender-equal countries, a pattern consistent with greater barriers to artistic careers for women than for men. Using data on Schwartz human values in the ESS, I then show that women artists, particularly those with children, appear to have more exceptional artistic value profiles than their male counterparts. These findings highlight the risks of equating market price with artistic value and underscore the importance of investing in women's art and women artists. An analysis of curators' values suggests that market-based strategies alone-such as art collecting-are insufficient to address art-market inequality. Instead, they must be complemented by cultural policies that dismantle structural barriers, including mistaken beliefs. |
| Keywords: | Art Prices, Women Artists, Motherhood, Curators, Selection, Values |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:343537 |
| By: | Anouck Butraud-Assathian (PcEn - Chaire Pluralisme culturel et Ethique du numérique (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Joëlle Farchy (PcEn - Chaire Pluralisme culturel et Ethique du numérique (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)); Léna Laqueyrerie (PcEn - Chaire Pluralisme culturel et Ethique du numérique (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The article examines the shift in the digital cultural ecosystem triggered by the widespread adoption of Generative AI. Historically, the platformization of cultural industries established an attention economy, where recommendation algorithms were essential for guiding users through overwhelming content catalogs. However, the recent influx of synthetic media has disrupted the dynamic, creating a synthetic tsunami that threatens cultural diversity, undermines user trust, and jeopardizes the livelihoods of human creators. Furthermore, this unchecked proliferation risks model degeneration for the AI systems themselves. To mitigate these economic and social tensions, Digital Service Providers are evolving their algorithmic policies. We analyze how platforms handle AI detection tools, transparent labeling, and adjusted recommendation guidelines to filter and distinguish human creations from automated content. Ultimately, this paper argues that platforms transition from a pure attention economy to a trust economy, actively protecting and highlighting human-made works to preserve the integrity and sustainability of the cultural value chain. |
| Keywords: | trust economy, digitization, recommender systems, GenAI, cultural industries, attention economy |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-05751501 |
| By: | Regis, Rafael Dirques David; Ferreira, Julio Cesar Valente |
| Abstract: | Em 2016, surgiu no Japão uma nova forma de criar conteúdo de vídeo em tempo real na internet (live stream), chamada de VTubers, ou YouTubers Virtuais. "YouTuber" é a designação em inglês dada a quem cria conteúdo na plataforma, e o “V” refere-se a “virtual”. Esse tipo de criador utiliza artefatos tecnológicos para transmitir conteúdo de forma anônima, por meio de avatares virtuais que refletem seus movimentos e expressões faciais em tempo real. Essa forma de produção tornou-se uma importante indústria cultural dentro e fora do Japão, movimentando mais de USD 100 milhões em doações do público no YouTube entre 2019 e 2021 e alcançando mais de CN¥ 36 bilhões — cerca de USD 4, 93 bilhões — em setembro de 2023. Para comparação, todo o mercado audiovisual brasileiro gerou R$ 24, 5 bilhões, ou USD 4, 91 bilhões, no mesmo período. Tal fenômeno deve-se à capacidade de engajamento dos VTubers, que superam, em termos percentuais, os criadores de conteúdo reais. Além disso, como toda indústria cultural, o setor de VTubers possui particularidades produtivas, lógicas e culturais que constroem seu sucesso, especialmente na formação de comunidades engajadas, que atuam tanto como consumidoras quanto produtoras. Dito isso, este trabalho busca encontrar as diferenças identificáveis entre VTubers e streamers tradicionais, em caráter exploratório, a partir de uma revisão narrativa da literatura. O objetivo é criar uma argumentação estruturada para identificar padrões de diferenciação em áreas como o funcionamento das indústrias, características performáticas, estética e motivadores de engajamento, fornecendo um panorama direto dessa área. |
| Date: | 2026–04–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:tk2ed_v1 |