The Economics of Books and Reading

Description

This book gives an overview of the key issues related to books and reading within the field of cultural economics and identifies additional lacunae in this area of research. The field of cultural economics is surprisingly short on research on the book market and on the activity of reading compared with other more recently invented media such as films and musical recordings. In addition, books and reading are strongly impacted by the disruptive innovations of digital technology and the use of online distribution platforms that fuel much of the research on the more recently invented cultural media. This book shows that the area of books and reading has had contributions in historically established areas of cultural economics and those currently exciting attention - chiefly with respect to digital disruption. Finally, it explains how books and reading are a fully developed rational addition model rather than something just based on the addition of past behaviour. Contents Cultural economics, books and reading Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Two-way trade from cultural economics to literature 3 Data sources 4 Consumption and production 5 Conclusion References Economics and novels: good, evil and becoming better people Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Good versus evil and the power of incentives 3 Prisoner’s dilemmas 4 It takes more than self-interest 5 Did Jane Austen channel Adam Smith? 6 Conclusion References The economics of the modern American comic book market Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Production 2.1 Operations 2.2 Contracts 2.3 Market 2.4 Distribution 3 Sales 3.1 Consumers 3.1.1 Who are the consumers of comic books? 3.1.2 Sales 3.2 Advertising 4 Conclusion References Unraveling the effect of extrinsic reading on reading with intrinsic motivation Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Literature review 3 A two-stage decision model for leisure time allocation 4 Data 5 Estimation method 5.1 The Heckman model 6 Results 7 Conclusions 7.1 Limitations and further research Acknowledgements References Don’t judge a book by its cover: examining digital disruption in the book industry using a stated preference approach Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Previous literature 3 Modelling approach 3.1 Multinomial logit model 3.2 Latent class model 4 The stated preference experiment 4.1 Alternative selection 4.2 Attribute selection 4.2.1 Genre 4.2.2 Critical consensus 4.2.3 Level of Australian cultural content 4.2.4 Price 4.3 Experimental design 4.4 Survey administration 5 Results and discussion 5.1 The multinomial logit model 5.2 The latent class model 5.3 Price elasticities and marginal effects 5.4 Willingness to pay 5.5 Alternative and attribute discussion 5.5.1 Book format 5.5.2 Genres 5.5.3 Critical consensus 5.5.4 Level of Australian cultural content 5.5.5 Price 5.6 Class discussion 5.6.1 Class 1: popular readers 5.6.2 Class 2: avid readers 5.6.3 Class 3: technological adopters 6 Conclusions Acknowledgements References More than a good book: contingent valuation of public library services in England Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Literature review 3 Methodology 3.1 Survey instrument 3.2 Data analysis 3.2.1 Contingent valuation data 3.2.2 Subjective well-being data 4 Results 4.1 Summary statistics 4.1.1 Contingent valuation results 4.1.2 Theoretical validity 5 Discussion Acknowledgements References List of Reviewers