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Does Competition Kill? The Case of Classical Composers

Author

Listed:
  • Karol Jan BOROWIECKI

    (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin)

  • Georgios KAVETSOS

    (Cass Business School, City University, London)

Abstract

We investigate the impact of peer competition on longevity using a unique historical data set of classical composers. We measure the geographic concentration of peers by the number of composers located in the same area and the time spent in one of the main geographic clusters for classical music. Using instrumental variables, we find a significant negative effect of geographic concentration. An additional composer based in the same location decreases longevity by 2.3 years, on average. Besides the widely known economic benefits associated with competition, these findings suggest that significant negative welfare externalities exist as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Karol Jan BOROWIECKI & Georgios KAVETSOS, 2011. "Does Competition Kill? The Case of Classical Composers," Trinity Economics Papers tep1111, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1111
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    File URL: http://www.tcd.ie/Economics/TEP/2011/TEP1111.pdf
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The dark side of competition
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2011-07-06 18:18:29

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    geographic concentration; well-being; mortality; culture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • N90 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • Z19 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Other

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