A discrete choice model of consumption of cultural goods: the case of music

In this article we present an empirical analysis of the ‘patterns of cultural choice’ in the musical domain in Italy. The main goal of the article is to verify whether musical tastes in Italy are diversified, with the presence of a group of ‘cultural omnivores’. Our study is based on the theoretical model of the demand for cultural goods proposed by Lévy-Garboua and Montmarquette (1996). In the empirical analysis we simultaneously evaluate the probability of choosing different musical genres. Through the specification of the set of alternatives into three groupings of musical genres —“only classical music”, “only popular music” and “all music”—we were able to detect the relative impact of several socio-economic characteristics on the probability of having “univorous” or “omnivorous” musical likings. In addition, our approach allows us to verify the existence of different patterns of music consumption by testing the significance of differences among the estimated coefficients of the probability functions related to the three groupings of musical genres. We find that age, gender and education are important predictors of an omnivorous taste.

Analyzing repeat consumption of identical cultural goods: some exploratory evidence from moviegoing

This study offers a preliminary exploration of repeat consumption of identical cultural goods, specifically moviegoing. The term ‘identical’ in this study refers to cases where, for example, individuals view the same film at a movie theater, in a short time interval, on more than one occasion i.e. experiencing the cultural good in precisely the same format. It is not meant to embrace the case of individuals who, for example, view a particular film at a movie theater and then see it some time later in another format, such as via a DVD player. The repeat viewing phenomenon is discussed and then considered empirically. Films aimed predominantly at children attract the highest number of repeat views, while those aimed at an older audience attract significantly fewer repeat views. The profile of repeat viewers of the 10 films which attracted the greatest number of repeat viewers was subject to more detailed scrutiny. In general, repeat viewers tend to be younger but the gender balance differs markedly according to film content. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 3rd European Workshop on Applied Cultural Economics, University of Oviedo in Aviles, Spain 14–16 June 2007 and the 9th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management (AIMAC), Fundación Universidad Empresa (ADEIT), Valencia, Spain 8–11 July 2007. We are grateful for comments received and the usual caveat applies.     

Cultural goods creation, cultural capital formation, provision of cultural services and cultural atmosphere accumulation

The cultural atmosphere in a society is accumulated over time through the consumption of cultural services and is diminished through depreciation. Using cultural capital (e.g., cultural heritage, paintings, music scores), cultural services are provided by the cultural-services industry (e.g., museums, opera houses); cultural capital is enlarged by new cultural goods created by individuals. Individuals’ utilities are positively affected by the cultural services they consume, by the cultural goods they create and by the cultural atmosphere and the cultural capital accumulated in society. In a laissez-faire economy, individuals tend to ignore the positive external effects of their cultural-services consumption and creation of cultural goods on other individuals via accumulating cultural atmosphere and cultural capital. Consequently, suboptimally little cultural atmosphere and cultural capital will be accumulated. The efficient intertemporal allocation can be restored by introducing an appropriate subsidy that not only stimulates consumers’ demand for cultural services and the creation of new cultural goods but also enhances the accumulation of cultural atmosphere and cultural capital.

Rational addiction and cultural goods: the case of the Italian theatregoer

This paper tests whether demand for theatre in Italy is consistent with the model of rational addiction presented in Becker and Murphy (J Polit Econ 96(4):675–700, 1988). Data from a novel 34-year panel on regional annual theatre attendance are used to estimate market demand. Four models are applied to investigate the demand function, and all of these also include per capita income and other control variables as regressors. The first two models are estimated to check whether theatregoers are myopically addicted to theatre. The results suggest that the theatre is an addictive good because past consumption (and prices) significantly raises the marginal utility of current consumption. The third model tests the rational addiction hypothesis, which assumes that future attendance also influences current attendance, whilst past and future prices influence current attendance only indirectly through their impact on past and future attendances. However, our most highly specified model, introducing past and future prices, demonstrates that Italian theatregoers are not myopic but fully rational as outlined in Becker and Murphy (1988). The results demonstrate that the rational addiction hypothesis is applicable not only to “harmful” addictions such as alcohol, cigarettes and drug consumption, but also to “beneficial” addictions, such as theatre attendance. This result has important policy implications because theatre is one of the most subsidised performing arts in Italy; if theatregoers are fully rational, policy makers can influence theatre attendance using alternative policy instruments (price and income), thereby reducing government expenditure on theatre subsidies.     

International trade in cultural goods: A cross-sectional analysis

Both industrialized and developing countries have historically applied various trade barriers to protect their domestic cultural industries. International trade statistics show that highly populated countries such as the U.S. have exerted a general pattern of cultural influence over the rest of the world through export of films, music, books, and periodicals. The following empirical study suggests that trade barriers effectively increase the net export of cultural products. While domestic market size seems to factor significantly into the trade for films and prercorded music, protectionism based on the economies of scale argument does not find widespread support among cultural industries.     

Gender,Science and Technology in Brazil

This essay considers gender in relation toBrazilian science and technology. It reviewsleading studies in the field, and offers briefbiographies of pioneering women in science.While there is still much room for improvement,the essay suggests that the situation of womenin science experienced significant progressduring the closing decades of the twentiethcentury.     

Fiscal and economic aspects of book consumption in the European Union

One of the available and yet controversial tools in cultural policy at the national level is the reduction of VAT rates for cultural goods and services. We document the standard and reduced VAT rates in EU-28 countries in the period from 1993 to 2013 and explore the underlying determinants. We further introduce a simple theoretical framework to explain how reduced fiscal rates are expected to decrease prices and increase quantities of the consumed cultural goods and services. We then estimate quantitatively that a decrease in the VAT rate for books by one percentage point is associated with an economically significant drop in the price by 2.6%. Finally, we show the positive effect of a fiscal rate reduction on the book expenditure, where a one percentage point decrease in the VAT rate for books leads to an increase in expenditure by 2.7%.     

情洒大洋两岸的风云人物——访巴西华人文化交流协会名誉主席尹霄敏

大雪纷扬地洒落,整个三台山沉浸在白雪皑皑的清幽和宁静中,浙江省政协第四次会议的部分委员就下榻于其中的浙江宾馆。此行我们采访的嘉宾,巴西尹氏国际集团总裁、巴西华人文化交流协会荣誉主席尹霄敏,也正是此次会议的海外委员。但是对尹总来说,这个瑞雪的年末还有一个欣喜的收获,那就是首次荣登“十大风云浙商人物”。     

Intellectual property rights and U.S. information goods exports: the role of imitation threat

Trade in information goods is particularly sensitive to the strength of intellectual property rights (IPR) and encounters an apparently different pattern of imitation threat compared with manufacturing trade, but the information goods trade–IPR nexus is less systematically investigated. This article analyzes whether and how U.S. information goods exports are sensitive to national differences in IPR protection and the degree of threat-of-imitation from the dynamic perspective. Employing the technique of instrumental variables for a dynamic panel model to consider the hysteretic effect and controlling the endogeneity problem, the empirical results show that the strength of the importing country’s IPR protection overall exhibits a trade-enhancing effect, supporting the standpoint that stronger IPR protection will induce more trade. Moreover, we adopt the piracy rate as a proxy for threat-of-imitation to examine its role on the information goods trade–IPR nexus. Empirical findings validate the prevalence of the market expansion effect wherever the degree of imitation threat of importing countries is high or low, because the technology level and production cost of reproduction are very low. It implies that the existing theory on threat-of-imitation may not apply to the information goods trade.

Cultural goods, cultivation of taste, satisfaction and increasing marginal utility during vacations

This paper analyzes the link between cultivation of taste and tourist satisfaction during vacations. A simple model shows that, when cultural capital accumulation matters, customers are ready to sacrifice some of their current utility in order to get higher returns in future, and therefore, the relation between satisfaction and the demand for cultural goods may be convex. On the contrary, when cultivation of taste comes from learning by consuming behavior, the relation is concave. An analysis based on 1,749 interviews in Aosta Valley in Summer 2008 provides some evidence in favor of the cultural capital accumulation hypothesis.     

The sales effect of word of mouth: a model for creative goods and estimates for novels

Weekly sales of creative goods—like music records, movies, or books—usually peak shortly after release and then decline quickly. In many cases, however, they follow a hump-shaped pattern where sales increase for some time. A popular explanation for this phenomenon is word of mouth among a population of heterogeneous buyers, but previous studies typically assume buyer homogeneity or neglect word of mouth altogether. In this paper, I study a model of new-product diffusion with heterogeneous buyers that allows for a quantification of the sales effect of word of mouth. The model includes Christmas sales as a special case. All parameters have an intuitive interpretation. Simulation results suggest that the parameters are estimable for data that are not too volatile and that cover a sufficiently large part of a title’s life cycle. I estimate the model for four exemplary novels using scanner data on weekly sales.

On the complementarity between online and offline music consumption: the case of free streaming

From a representative survey of 2,000 individuals, we study whether consumption of music through streaming services, like Spotify or YouTube, is a substitute or a complement to physical music consumption modes, such as CDs and live music. Controlling for the taste for music, various socio-demographic characteristics and the usual determinants of music consumption either offline (radio, TV, friends/relatives) or online (online recommendations, social networks), our results show that free music streaming (where the consumer does not possess the music but only has access to it) has no significant effect on CD sales and affects positively live music attendance, but only for national or international artists who are more likely to be available on streaming services.     

Science and technology in Brazil: A new policy for a global world

Conclusion The plurality and complexity of modern science and technology require the research institutions in universities, government and even the private sector to engage in a plurality of activities, from basic to applied science, from graduate education to extension work and teacher-training. They should also be stimulated to diversify their sources of funds, from government to private companies, non-profit foundations and paying clients and students. Specialisation will take place, is necessary, and should grow through a combination of external incentives and internal drive. Scientific research and development, to remain alive, should take place in a highly internationalised and competitive environment for resources, prestige and recognition. And the leading scientists should be also entrepreneurs of this enterprise for the promotion of the growth of knowledge.An edited and abridged version of the document published by Fundaão Getúlio Vargas (Rio de Janiero, 1994). The specially commissioned papers and the references to other publications are not included here, but are listed in that document.