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Theatre allocation as a distributor’s strategic variable over movie runs

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  • Juan Prieto-Rodriguez
  • Fernanda Gutierrez-Navratil
  • Victoria Ateca-Amestoy

Abstract

The main objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between the type of distributor and its influence on the theatre allocation process. In doing so, we study the differences in the theatre elasticity of box-office revenues between distributors, once the other determinants of movie box-office revenues and unobserved film characteristics have been controlled for. The empirical exercise involves estimating a panel for the weekly box-office revenue in the US motion picture market during the 2002–2009 period. Given the dynamic nature of our data and the endogeneity problems that some of the independent variables may present due to the presence of unobserved individual effects of movies, we use the Hausman–Taylor estimator. Regarding theatre allocation, we find evidence of similar, but not homogeneous, behaviour among the so-called Majors, which, in turn, differs from that observed for non-Majors regarding theatre allocation to films. These differences are greater when we consider a selection of more successful movies that are exhibited for a longer run, maybe due to the rise in the amount of uncertainty for this sample. Our results provide indirect evidence of the differences in the market power of distributors. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Prieto-Rodriguez & Fernanda Gutierrez-Navratil & Victoria Ateca-Amestoy, 2015. "Theatre allocation as a distributor’s strategic variable over movie runs," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 39(1), pages 65-83, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:39:y:2015:i:1:p:65-83
    DOI: 10.1007/s10824-014-9220-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Georgios Alaveras & Estrella Gomez-Herrera & Bertin Martens, 2018. "Cross-border circulation of films and cultural diversity in the EU," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(4), pages 645-676, November.
    4. Darlene Chisholm & Víctor Fernández-Blanco & S. Abraham Ravid & W. David Walls, 2015. "Economics of motion pictures: the state of the art," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 39(1), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Jaedo Choi & Yun Jeong Choi & Minki Kim, 2017. "Vertical Foreclosure with Product Choice and Allocation: Evidence from the Movie Industry," Working papers 2017rwp-107, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    6. Alexander Cuntz & Alessio Muscarnera & Prince C. Oguguo & Matthias Sahli, 2023. "IP assets and film finance - a primer on standard practices in the U.S," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 74, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    7. Fernanda Gutiérrez-Navratil & Víctor Fernández-Blanco & Luis Orea Sánchez & Juan Prieto Rodríguez, 2017. "Do Movie Majors Really Collude? Indirect Evidence from Release Schedules," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 221(2), pages 9-31, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cinema; Theatre elasticity; Box-office revenue; Movies’ life-cycle; Panel data analysis; D22; L82; Z10;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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