Ticket Pricing and Cast Size: Evidence from 2.5-dimensional musicals in Japan

Using a uniquely constructed dataset, this study examines 2.5-dimensional musicals in Japan and investigates whether ticket prices tend to increase in response to an expansion in cast size. According to multiple regression analysis, ticket prices and cast size exhibit an inverted-U-shaped relationship, suggesting the presence of a certain threshold. When outliers exceeding this threshold are excluded, the number of main cast members (MCM) with official roles and titles demonstrates a substantially weaker positive correlation with ticket prices than the number of ensemble cast members (ECM) performing background roles. Moreover, the results of propensity score matching indicate that an increase in MCM size may not be reflected in higher ticket prices. A plausible interpretation of these findings is that innovations, particularly those associated with MCM, may promote productivity improvements that offset the upward pressure on ticket prices resulting from rising labor costs and increased market power in the monopolistic competition market of 2.5-dimensional musicals.