Koleman Strumpf, University of Kansas School of Business
Koleman Strumpf, University of Kansas School of Business
Using Markets to Measure the Impact of File Sharing on Movie Revenues
Using Markets to Measure the Impact of File Sharing on Movie Revenues
A buffet lunch will be available at 11:45 am.
Abstract
File sharing provides a useful laboratory for investigating the economic importance of intellectual property protection. There are two main empirical challenges: overcoming the non-random timing of the arrival date of illicit copies and dealing with low statistical power due to limited sample size. This paper uses markets to address these issues in the context of movies. I show forward-looking markets can be used to establish the unobserved counter-factual of how movie revenues would change on any possible file sharing release date, particularly those prior to the theatrical premier. Using movie-level tracking stocks in conjunction with the arrival date of illicit copies, I find that file sharing has only a modest impact on box office revenue.
Bio
Professor Strumpf's research interests are in applied microeconomics. His current work focuses on file sharing (the economic impact on the entertainment industries), prediction markets (election futures, corporate applications), and industrial organization (formal evidence of first degree price discrimination in the real world). He has also written papers on state and local economics, public economics, health economics, and political economics. These papers have been published in journals such as American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, and Journal of Human Resources.
His work has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Science, Economist, Business Week, Rolling Stone, and Variety. He has appeared on ABC News, Nightline, CNN, CNBC, C-Span, NPR, and Bloomberg Radio
He is currently the
Koch Professor of Economics at University of Kansas School of Business. He was
previously a professor of economics at UNC Chapel Hill and has had visiting
appointments at Kellogg School of Management, University of Chicago School of
Business, the Wharton School, and the Cato Institute.
Background readings
- File-Sharing and Copyright (with F. Oberholzer-Gee). NBER's Innovation Policy and the Economy series, volume 10. ed. Joshua Lerner and Scott Stern. MIT Press. 2009.
- ‘Expendables 3’ Leaks Online, Pirated Copy Downloaded 189,000 Times in 24 Hours. Variety. 25 July 2014.
- Piracy Puts Film Online One Month Before Open. New York Times. 1 April 2009.