Can good marketing carry a bad product? Evidence from the motion picture industry

We examine the relative roles of marketing actions and product quality in determining commercial success. Using the motion picture context, in which product quality is difficult for consumers to anticipate and information on product success is available for different points in time, we model the effects of studio actions and movie quality on a movie’s sales during different phases of its theatrical run. For a sample of 331 recent motion pictures, structural equation modeling demonstrates that studio actions primarily influence early box office results, whereas movie quality influences both short- and long-term theatrical outcomes. The core results are robust across moderating conditions. We identify two data segments with follow-up latent class regressions and explore the degree of studio actions needed to “save” movies of varying quality. We finally offer some implications for research and management.     

Migration and trade: Theory with an application to the Eastern-Western European integration

The remarkable increase in trade flows and in migratory flows of highly educated people are two important features of globalization of the last decades. This paper extends a two-country model of inter- and intra-industry trade to a rich environment featuring technological differences, skill differences and the possibility of international labor mobility. The model is used to explain the patterns of trade and migration as countries remove barriers to trade and to labor mobility. We parameterize the model to match the features of the Western and Eastern European members of the EU and analyze first the effects of the trade liberalization which occurred between 1989 and 2004, and then the gains and losses from migration which are expected to occur if legal barriers to labor mobility are substantially reduced. The lower barriers to migration would result in significant migration of skilled workers from Eastern European countries. Interestingly, this would not only benefit the migrants and most Western European workers but, via trade, it would also benefit the workers remaining in Eastern Europe.     

技术标准战略、技术贸易壁垒与出口竞争力的关系——基于浙江出口美日欧的实证研究

本文在量化技术标准战略和技术贸易壁垒的基础上,利用浙江1995-2007年出口美日欧三国的数据构建了时间序列/截面数据模型,实证研究了浙江技术标准战略以及国外技术贸易壁垒的实施对浙江出口美日欧市场竞争力的影响程度。研究结果显示:浙江技术标准战略、国内技术获取、国际市场购买能力等因素与浙江产品出口美日欧市场的竞争力存在显著正相关关系,同时来自美日欧FDI的负向影响和技术贸易壁垒的正向影响都与传统观点不符。在此基础上,本文对提高浙江出口竞争力提出了具体的政策建议,包括将技术标准战略和外国技术贸易壁垒分别作为提高出口竞争力的内部动力和外部动力,以及高度重视从省外的技术获取等。