MOVIES,MASS CONSUMERS,AND CRITICS: ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF A TWO‐SIDED MARKET

Most analyses of the film market treat it as a single entity where producers make films based on average consumer interest while critics serve as forecasters or signalers of film quality to these consumers. We describe the film market as two‐sided—a mass market (average consumer) side and a high quality/artistic (cineaste) side—that each influence film maker production decisions and critical reviews as critics balance the preferences of mass market consumers and their own more artistic inclination. Using 1,824 films released during 2000–2014, we examine determinants of box office revenues and critical reviews, while addressing the overlap between them. Our results indicate that consumers and critics respond differently not only to film rating but also to film budgets, story sources, genre, and political content. We then use the dichotomy between average and high quality, artistic film consumers as a basis for understanding the normative views of the film markets relative to other two‐sided markets as well as the political economy of film regulation. (JEL C30, D10, Z11)     

Unintended Consequence of Centralized Public School Funding in Michigan Education

As part of the movement to create greater spending equity among school districts, states have centralized funding for public education and instituted funding formulas where high-spending districts are often constrained in their operational expenditures. However, these school districts often maintain local discretion over capital expenditures financed by the sale of bonds. In this study, we find that Michigan's high-spending school districts have a greater probability of issuing bonds after centralizing public school funding, indicating that debt financing of capital expenditures may have become a mechanism to allow these school districts to circumvent the policy's intent for greater spending equity.     

Project management: break through or bust

Making a wrong choice can severely affect even the best-managed implementation (and project manager's careers). There is simply no margin for error, so getting it right the first time is not merely an option--it is a prerequisite for success. This article will first review why projects fail, then highlight the project management process used by McInnes Steel to specify, choose, and implement MRP II software that was "right" for them. Insights and experiences will also be shared to assist others in their project management activities. Project ultimate measurement is the successful integration of new technology into the culture of the organization. The first and most crucial step in any implementation is the specification and subsequent selection of the equipment or technology. It is important to make the right choice--one where the technology provides value-added services to the users to help them do their jobs better, now and into the future.     

The Transformation of a Neutral Lake Landscape into a Meaningful Experience – Interpreting Tourist Photos

The purpose of this article is to present the mental images of the Finnish lakeland held by potential Italian and German tourists. Image analysis was used in order to find the attributes tourists connect to pictures of lake landscape and to their own mental images of the places shown. The attributes found were classified under categories through which the touristic potential of the lake could be approached. The mental images evoked by the pictures emerging in the present study are individual and cultural at the same time. Although the individual nature of the mental images became prominent in the analysis, there were identifiable similarities in them. From the marketing point of view, each picture proved to have a special function in a given country. The respondents approached the pictures both as outside observers and as participating actors. The transformation of a neutral lake landscape into a meaningful experience depended on the mental images evoked by both the aesthetic content of the picture and its internal elements. The neutral lake landscape was turned into a meaningful place through the experiences and sensations the respondents attached to the pictures.     

The potential of African trade integration – Panel data evidence for the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite

ABSTRACT

The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA, formed in 2011, is supposed to be a milestone towards Africa's continental trade integration. This study analyzes the impact of regional integration among the Tripartite countries on their bilateral imports before that date to evaluate the latest integration efforts. We estimate an extended gravity model on a large panel of 51 African countries using yearly observations from 1995 to 2010. We proxy existing formal trade barriers by sample average tariff data on imports from the world as well as indicator variables for the membership in regional FTAs. We consider different estimation techniques and discuss distinct sets of fixed effects. The PPML regression results indicate that remaining tariffs are significantly negatively correlated with imports throughout the preferred multiplicative models. An FTA status does not show a clear-cut import enhancing effect. In the specifications that control for country-year effects, the EAC coefficient is positively correlated with imports, and the COMESA and SADC FTA membership show a positive relation to imports within some reduced-sample robustness checks.