The consumption characteristics of film: evidence from the British and US markets during the 1930s

"This paper examines the risk environment of film production, within the context of the market for film in Britain and the United States during the 1930s. We argue that the wide variability in the financial performance of films in both markets, reflecting the considerable risks that were involved in film production, can be interpreted as a direct function of the risks incurred by consumers in the film consumption process. We propose a framework for characterising and interpreting the nature of consumer risk, and interpret producer risk within this context. A number of data sets are used to measure producer risk, thereby providing an indirect reflection of the extent of consumer risk. We also emphasise that the high level of industrial concentration in the film industry of the 1930s, notwithstanding the rapid expansion of the market for film over the decade, can be understood within the context of an industry with high levels of endogenous sunk costs."