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The Economics of Books

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Author Info
Canoy, Marcel
van der Ploeg, Frederick
van Ours, Jan C

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Abstract

The tensions between books and book markets as expressions of culture and books as products in profit-making businesses are analysed and insights from the theory of industrial organisation are given. Governments intervene in the market for books through laws concerning prices of books, grants for authors and publishers, a lower value-added tax, public libraries and education in order to stimulate the diversity of books on offer, increase the density of retail outlets and to promote reading. An overview of the different ways by which countries differ in terms of market structures and government policies is given. Particular attention is paid to retail price maintenance. Due to differences between European countries it is not a good idea to harmonise European book policies. Our analysis suggests that the book market seems quite able to invent solutions to specific problems of the book trade and that, apart from promoting reading, there is little need for government intervention.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 4892.

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Date of creation: Feb 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4892

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Related research
Keywords: authors; books; diversity; internet; libraries; monopolistic competition; publishers; retail price maintenance; subsidies;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - General
D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General
Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Deneckere, Raymond & Marvel, Howard P & Peck, James, 1997. "Demand Uncertainty and Price Maintenance: Markdowns as Destructive Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 619-41, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Holahan, William L., 1979. "A theoretical analysis of resale price maintenance," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 411-420, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Steven Salop & Joseph Stiglitz, 1977. "Bargains and ripoffs: a model of monopolistically competitive price dispersion," Special Studies Papers 94, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    Other versions:
  4. Clerides, Sofronis K., 2002. "Book value: intertemporal pricing and quality discrimination in the US market for books," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(10), pages 1385-1408, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Austan Goolsbee & Judith Chevalier, 2002. "Measuring Prices and Price Competition Online: Amazon and Barnes and Noble," NBER Working Papers 9085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Chr. Hjorth-Andersen, 2000. "A Model of the Danish Book Market," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 27-43, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Ottaviano, G.I.P. & Thisse, J.-F., 1999. "Monopolistic Competition, Multiproduct Firms and Optimum Product Diversity," Economics Working Papers eco99/31, European University Institute.
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  8. Robert J. Barro & Jong-Wha Lee, 2000. "International Data on Educational Attainment Updates and Implications," NBER Working Papers 7911, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Landes, William M & Posner, Richard A, 1989. "An Economic Analysis of Copyright Law," Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 325-63, June.
  10. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-58, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. S. Bertarelli & R. Censolo, 2000. "Preference for Novelty and Price Behaviour," Working Papers 383, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
  12. Foster, James E. & Horowitz, Andrew W., 1996. "Complimentarily yours: Free examination copies and textbook prices," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 85-99. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Simon Latcovich & Howard Smith, 2001. "Pricing, Sunk Costs, and Market Structure Online: Evidence from," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 217-234, Summer.
  14. Akerlof, George A, 1970. "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Howard P. Marvel & Stephen McCafferty, 1984. "Resale Price Maintenance and Quality Certification," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(3), pages 346-359, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2005. "The Making of Cultural Policy: A European Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Yetkiner, I. Hakan & Horvath, Csilla, 2000. "Macroeconomic implications of virtual shopping : a theoretical approach," CCSO Working Papers 200004, University of Groningen, CCSO Centre for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  18. Frank Mathewson & Ralph Winter, 1998. "The Law and Economics of Resale Price Maintenance," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 57-84, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2003. "Beyond the Dogma of the Fixed Book Price Agreement," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jonathan Beck, 2007. "The sales effect of word of mouth: a model for creative goods and estimates for novels," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 5-23, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Edoardo Gaffeo & Antonello E. Scorci & Laura Vici, 2008. "Demand Distribution Dynamics in Creative Industries: the Market for Books in Italy," Department of Economics Working Papers 0804, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia. [Downloadable!]
  3. repec:mop:credwp:02.06.28 is not listed on IDEAS
  4. E. Gaffeo & A. E. Scorcu & L. Vici, 2008. "Demand Distribution Dynamics in Creative Industries: the Market for Books in Italy," Working Papers 630, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Ours, Jan C. van, 2006. "Children reading fiction books because they want to," Discussion Paper 3, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  6. van Ours, Jan C, 2006. "Children Reading Fiction Books Because They Want To," CEPR Discussion Papers 5472, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Seaman, Bruce A., 2009. "Cultural Economics: The State of the Art and Perspectives/Economía de la cultura: estado del arte y perspectivas," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 27, Abril. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Françoise Benhamou & Stéphanie Peltier, 2007. "How should cultural diversity be measured? An application using the French publishing industry," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 85-107, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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