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Motion Pictures, Economics of

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Abstract

Film-goers discover the films they like by consuming them, and through the exchange of information the demand for motion pictures evolves dynamically. The supply of screens adjusts in response to demand through flexible state-contingent exhibition contracts. This article presents an overview of the economics of motion pictures that focuses on how the demand process affects the distribution of outcomes, how the distribution of outcomes can be quantified with the use of statistical models, and how the industry’s organization and business practices can be understood in light of the behavioural and statistical models.

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Walls, W.D. (2018). Motion Pictures, Economics of. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1942

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