The cultural entrepreneur and the creative industries: beginning in Vienna

In this paper on the creative industries and cultural entrepreneurship I take my point of departure in Richard Caves’ Creative Industries [Caves, R. (2000). Creative industries: Contacts between art and commerce. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.]. While Caves draws heavily on economic analysis and contemporary sociology in his excellent analysis of these two topics, he does not use the sociological classics at all. The main purpose of the paper is an attempt to remedy this, by drawing attention to the possible contribution that the works of Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel can make to our understanding of the creative industries and cultural entrepreneurship. Since this paper was prepared as a keynote address for the 2006 conference of the Association for Cultural Economics International in Vienna, I also discuss Schumpeter’s ideas on art and entrepreneurship, ideas which grew out of Viennese culture.

Why has cultural economics ignored copyright?

My stance is that copyright policy should be viewed as part of cultural policy; cultural economists have had a great deal to say about subsidy and cultural policy but very little about copyright, though cultural economics is well placed to analyse copyright as an incentive to creativity in the creative industries because of its understanding of cultural policy and of artists’ labour markets. The article contrasts subsidy and copyright as policy tools and briefly discusses two current policy problems in relation to copyright—regulating copyright collection societies and the so-called ‘copyright levy’—arguing that these are the sort of issues cultural economists could (and should) be dealing with.

Purchasing power parity and cultural convergence: evidence from the global video games market

A shared activity or pursuit can have the effect of bringing about cultural convergence in the form of patterns of behaviour and consumption. This idea is supported by the Axelrod (1997) thesis, which suggests that cultures are more likely to interact and subsequently converge if they have shared traits: one of these being the use of technology. This paper seeks to apply such a cultural perspective to the body of published literature on deviations from the law of one price. Adopting a similar methodology to the popular ‘Big Mac’ index, disparity between official market exchange rate and the real rate of exchange between two currencies is measured using local prices of video game consoles. The results of the study suggest that, while a degree of pricing and cultural convergence across broad geographic areas is observed, many major global currencies are trading at levels that are quite significantly different to that which is suggested by purchasing power parity (PPP) theory.

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.

Assessing cultural values: developing an attitudinal scale

Effective measurement of cultural value is often elusive because of its multidimensional nature. It is also influenced by sociodemographic characteristics (manifest variables) and attitudinal characteristics (latent variables) of populations. While the former is easily available to researchers, the latter has not been fully studied. This paper suggests the use of a cultural worldview scale that was developed to measure cultural attitudes of people, using factor and cluster analysis. Four factors comprise the scale: cultural linkages, recognition of cultural values, cultural loss and preservation of traditions and customs. Some advantages of using this scale are demonstrated, and relationships with sociodemographic variables are investigated. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.

How do class,status, ethnicity,and religiosity shape cultural omnivorousness in Israel?

In this article we study the determinants of cultural participation in Israel with an emphasis on the Weberian distinction between class and status. The class measure is based on occupational groupings, and status is operationalized as a rank of occupations based on social distance. We expect that class will be less important than status in shaping cultural participation patterns. In addition, due to the importance of ethnicity and religiosity in Israeli society, we expect that these factors will be significant in shaping cultural participation. Data are based on two telephone surveys conducted in 2006 and 2007 of a random sample of the Jewish population in Israel. We find that, contrary to our expectation, class is more influential than status. We also find that ethnicity and religiosity are important factors that shape cultural participation patterns. We discuss possible explanations to the finding regarding class and status, with special attention to the role cultural policy plays in mediating the economic effect on consumer behavior. We also call for more attention to ethnicity and religiosity in studies of cultural stratification.

The impact of ‘central places’ on spatial spending patterns: evidence from Flemish local government cultural expenditures

Governments often see it as their responsibility to support cultural life and at times spend a significant amount of resources in the pursuit of this goal. The present article analyses whether and how municipalities influence each other in this decision to spend resources on the arts (using data on local government cultural spending in 304 Flemish municipalities in 2002). Following ‘central place theory’, the focal point of the analysis is the idea that––especially for cultural expenditures––large municipalities (and, specifically, ‘central places’) may affect their neighbours’ behaviour differently than small municipalities. The empirical analysis supports this idea. Indeed, we show that Flemish municipalities’ cultural spending is generally positively affected by that in neighbouring municipalities. This pattern is, however, significantly more complex for municipalities neighbouring the 13 largest Flemish cities.

China Looks Abroad: Changing Directions In International Science

This essay describes China’s participation in international science organizations during the past two decades. It argues that, whilst progress has been made, serious problems remain. It concludes that increased attention to communication and exchange, and the creation of a favourable international image in science and technology are important priorities for China.

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Combining the travel cost and contingent behavior methods to value cultural heritage sites: Evidence from Armenia

This paper combines the travel cost method (TCM) with contingent behavior questions to estimate domestic visitors’ use values for cultural heritage sites in Armenia, a transition economy in which conservation of cultural monuments is hampered by limited resources. Respondents intercepted at four cultural monuments provided information on their visitation patterns, experience at the site, perception of the state of conservation of the monuments, and rating of the quality of the services and infrastructure. We combine actual trips with stated trips under hypothetical programs that would enhance the conservation of the monuments and improve one of (i) the cultural experience at the site, (ii) the quality of the infrastructure, or (iii) the quality of the services, and use the combined actual and stated trips to fit a panel data model. Our study is one of the few applications of the TCM to value cultural heritage sites. Our investigation shows that (i) significant use values are associated with the four study monuments, and (ii) conservation programs and initiatives that improve the cultural experience, or simply make it easier for the respondent to reach and spend time at the monument, are valued by domestic visitors and would encourage higher visitation rates. Actual and intended trips reported by the respondents exhibit good construct validity, in the sense that they are well predicted by price, location, hypothetical scenario and other individual characteristics of the respondents.

Determining heterogeneous behavior for theater attendance

In this paper we propose and estimate a model of theater participation using the data contained in the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts from the USA, a dataset widely used to study the determinants of cultural participation. Our contribution relies on the use of an estimation technique that respects the count data nature of the attendance variable (number of theater performances that an individual attended) and allows for heterogeneous behavior. By using a Zero Inflated Negative Binomial Model, we can characterize two distinct behaviors for the observable attendance: a group of never-goers (who never participate) and a subpopulation that has a positive probability of attending. For this latter group, we can estimate the effect of certain personal variables on the probability of highest frequency. The results suggest that the proposed model is appropriate for estimating cultural participation.

Revisiting tax subsidies for cultural institutions

This paper was presented at the symposium dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the publication of Patrons Despite Themselves: Taxpayers and Arts Policy (Feld et al. 1983), held by the Association for Cultural Economics International, Boston, June 2008. Patrons Despite Themselves raised and tried to answer a number of important questions of policy concerning indirect government support for the arts. These questions have continued salience for what we see in our museums and hear in our concert halls. The primary source of federal indirect aid in the U.S. continues to derive from the deduction in the federal income tax for contributions to not-for-profit cultural institutions. On the other hand, there has been a series of recent challenges to the tax-exempt status of charitable institutions.

Boundary-Work in the Health Research Field: Biomedical and Clinician Scientists’ Perceptions of Social Science Research

Funding agencies in Canada are attempting to break down the organizational boundaries between disciplines to promote interdisciplinary research and foster the integration of the social sciences into the health research field. This paper explores the extent to which biomedical and clinician scientists’ perceptions of social science research operate as a cultural boundary to the inclusion of social scientists into this field. Results indicated that cultural boundaries may impede social scientists’ entry into the health research field through three modalities: (1) biomedical and clinician scientists’ unfavourable and ambivalent posture towards social science research; (2) their opposition to a resource increase for the social sciences; and (3) clinician scientists procedural assessment criteria for social science. The paper also discusses the merits and limitations of Tom Gieryn’s concept of boundary-work for studying social dynamics within the field of science.

Buckminster Fuller as Captain of Spaceship Earth

Buckminster Fuller’s experiences in the Navy became a model for his ecological design projects and suggestions for the global management of ‘Spaceship Earth’. Inspired by technocratic ideas of the 1930s, Fuller envisaged, in the 1970s, an elitist world without politics, in which designers were at the helm, steering the planet out of its environmental crises.

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Making research count: Norway and the OECD connection 1965–1980

This essay explores how the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Norway became linked into a science policy discourse that radiated throughout the developed world. Despite political differences, this discourse changed forever the expectations by which Norway’s universities and its fundamental research institutions were to operate.

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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.

eBay auctions for Third Eye Blind concert tickets

The band Third Eye Blind recently completed a tour, selling tickets exclusively on eBay. Many tickets were bundled with either VIP passes or autographed posters. These data are used to measure variations in price across different markets, as well as the premiums paid for different ticket types. Auctioning the tickets allows the seller to practice Third Degree Price Discrimination and bundling, without having to determine prices in each market and for each different bundle. We find: tickets bundled with VIP passes command a substantial positive premium; tickets bundled with autographed posters command a small negative premium; different prices emerge in different geographic markets; and auction prices are positively related to the fixed price at which tickets could be purchased by way of Buy-it-Now.

That obscure object of desire: the management of academic knowledge

For academic administrators, the management of research remains a matter more of hope than expectation. It has proved particularly difficult to measure quality. Managers typically view research as an ‹asset’. This essay argues that it is more useful to view research and its management as ‹process’, and explores the implications of doing so for managers and researchers alike.

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Balfour’s Mission to Palestine: Science,Strategy, and the Inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem

In 1925, A.J. Balfour, first Earl Balfour and author of the famous ‘Balfour Declaration’, attended the inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His education and experience of foreign policy equipped him to take a prominent role. However, the conditions of strife-torn Palestine weighed heavily upon him, and raised wider interests of imperial concern. This essay recounts the circumstances leading to his visit, and suggests that, whatever the region’s political destiny, Balfour’s vision of science-based economic development would play an essential role in crafting its future.

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Art versus commerce in the movie industry: a Two-Path Model of Motion-Picture Success

Previous studies of the movie industry have raised questions concerning the problematic relationship between the success-related aspects of artistic excellence and commercial appeal. The present article proposes that—when the former is measured by industry recognition (Oscars and other awards) and the latter by market performance (box office and video rentals) and when the former hinges on the evaluative judgments of reviewers and consumers (ratings of excellence) and the latter on the level of buzz among these audience members (amount of attention, word of mouth, or click of mouse)—the two phenomena are essentially separable as independent paths to conceptually distinct and empirically uncorrelated aspects of motion-picture success. An analysis of data for 190 movies from the year 2003 shows that reviewer-and-consumer evaluations and buzz respond differently to a film’s marketing clout (production budget, opening screens, and opening box office) and that these audience responses contribute independently to a film’s industry recognition and market performance along two separable paths. These findings suggest various implications for movie marketers, film producers, actors or actresses, and other members of the motion-picture industry.