Asymmetric cultural discounting and pattern of trade in cultural products: Empirical evidence in motion pictures

We extend the seminal home market effect model of Helpman and Krugman (Market structure and foreign trade, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1985) by incorporating asymmetric cultural discounting. In addition to the home market effect, our model predicts that a country subject to a relatively lower cultural discount factor becomes a net exporter as trade liberalisation accelerates. Using international box office revenues in the motion picture industry and developing a measure of asymmetric cultural discount based on tourist‐arrival statistics, we find empirical support for this hypothesis. Our model provides an explanation for the continued cultural dominance of smaller English‐speaking countries in larger non‐English‐speaking countries, which cannot be explained by the home market effect alone.     

Empathic cultural consumers: Pay what you want in the theater

Pay what you want (PWYW) is an increasingly popular sales strategy in which consumers voluntarily decide how much to pay for a product or service. PWYW has often been described as an exercise in the “empathy economy,” where consumers' payment choices might be seen as empowered expressions of their tastes and preferences, and sellers have a stronger incentive for empathizing with them. Beyond their economic interest, PWYW experiences also deserve significant attention in the social sciences given that they challenge several key assumptions of rational choice and neoclassical economic theory, as well as conventional consumer behavior and pricing theories. This paper analyzes three plays performed at the Beckett Theater in Barcelona using PWYW with very profitable outcomes. Our analysis shows that socio-psychological factors, such as payments attributed to others and satisfaction with the play, are the best predictors of customer payments.     

Leadership styles and corporate social responsibility management: Analysis from a gender perspective

Companies' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been only partially analyzed from an individual perspective that focuses on personal characteristics and professional backgrounds. However, a gap exists in the research on manager leadership styles and CSR perceptions from a gender perspective. Therefore, this article analyzes differences in attitudes toward various dimensions of CSR by focusing on the leadership styles—transformational, dominance, and dual perspectives—of male and female managers in Spain. A total of 391 respondents in top management positions in Spain were surveyed. The findings revealed similarities and differences between genders with respect to leadership styles and CSR perceptions by dimension using a univariate analysis. A causal model that employed structural equation modeling was also estimated. The findings suggest that for transformational and dual leadership styles, Spanish women may be more adaptable and effective at pursuing company sustainability than Spanish men. However, dominance leadership was found to be the worst leadership style for deploying a CSR strategy. A number of conclusions for business management can be drawn, and some directions for future research are provided.     

Reference Points and Negative Reciprocity in Simple Sequential Games

We investigate experimentally whether preferences over an outcome depend on what other possible outcomes of the situation under consideration are, i.e., whether choices are “menu dependent.” In simple sequential games we analyze whether reactions to a certain benchmark outcome are influenced by changes in the payoffs of another outcome, not attainable at that time, called the “reference point.” Our data provide evidence that is favorable to the notion of menu dependence. Alterations of the reference point can lead to quantitatively significant changes in behavior at the benchmark outcome. The behavior we observe can be interpreted in terms of negative reciprocity. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C91, C92, C72.     

The Map of Europe: Continuity and Change in Administrative Boundaries (1850–2000)

This article presents a series of digital maps that track the evolution of intermediate level administrative boundaries in Western and Central Europe between 1850 and 2000. Our research led us to consider why neighbouring states often base the organisation of their respective administrative units on quite different principles. Although each European state has its own history and dynamic, it is also possible to distinguish a series of general characteristics and common traits. We have identified two basic groups of patterns, which we have called the rationalistic and conservative models. The former is characterised by a radical reform of the previous system of territorial organisation and administration. This generally took place after the French Revolution of 1789 and followed the example of the administrative reforms implemented in France under Napoleon. The latter has largely respected and conserved traditional boundaries and institutions and has only modified them when they become unviable and effectively obsolete. This offers considerable flexibility in the face of changing circumstances, as particularly observed in the sub-group of that we have referred to as ‘functionalist states’.     

The geographical efficiency of Spain's regional airports: A quantitative analysis

Previous studies of the role of regional airports in the Spanish economy have focused on calculating efficiency using air traffic as the output and airport infrastructure data as the input. We present an alternative quantitative analysis based upon the geographical structure within the airport's market basin. We formulate a ‘geographical efficiency’ model that considers territorial variables within the airport hinterland. Input data for our model include the socio-economic structure of the population, intermodal transport links, industrial and tourism potential and existing leisure-related services. The output is the annual number of passengers associated with such constraints. The result is a relative efficiency estimate that shows uneven patterns of geographical efficiency amongst Spain's regional airports and also provides insights into opportunities for expanding some of these critical items of infrastructure. They suggest that some of Spain's regional airports may be better placed than others to compete in a liberalized market that exhibits a clear tendency in favor of coastal, tourism-based airports.     

Effects of Aspirations and Habits on the Distribution of Wealth

We analyze how the introduction of habits and aspirations affects the distribution of wealth when the labor productivity of individuals is subject to idiosyncratic shocks and when bequests arise from a joy‐of‐giving motive. In the presence of either bequests or aspirations, labor income shocks are transmitted intergenerationally, and this transmission, together with contemporaneous shocks, determines the distribution of wealth. We show that the introduction of aspirations (habits) decreases (increases) the average wealth, and increases (decreases) both its intragenerational variability and the degree of intergenerational mobility. Therefore, a distinction between aspirations and habits is relevant because they involve different implications for the distribution of wealth.