IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cue/wpaper/awp-06-2017.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are Books Luxury Goods in Russia or not?

Author

Listed:
  • Nataliya Kochkina

    (Research Group for Applied Markets and Enterprises Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Evgeniya Popova

    (Research Group for Applied Markets and Enterprises Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics)

Abstract

In the times of Soviet Union books were a luxury good. This paper examines whether books are still a luxury good in Russia. For this purpose data from one of the Russian book retail chains is used to empirically estimate a general book demand and separate demand models for genres. We focus on estimating income elasticity. For this reason we construct a covariate on the basis of monthly wages of working individuals that reveals consumer income. Moreover, this paper is one of the few which addresses in detail the influence of books content quality on book demand. The main result is that books on average are not luxury goods anymore in Russia. However two genres: foreign prose and poetry are exceptions and can be called luxury goods. We also conclude that quality control covariates (book rating and number of people who rated the book) are important determinants of book demand as they influence significantly the general book demand and the demand models for different genres as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Nataliya Kochkina & Evgeniya Popova, 2017. "Are Books Luxury Goods in Russia or not?," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-06-2017, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Jul 2017.
  • Handle: RePEc:cue:wpaper:awp-06-2017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://files.culturaleconomics.org/papers/AWP-06-2017.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Canoy, Marcel & van Ours, Jan C. & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2006. "The Economics of Books," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, in: V.A. Ginsburgh & D. Throsby (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 21, pages 721-761, Elsevier.
    2. Sumiko Asai, 2016. "Determinants of demand and price for best-selling novels in paperback in Japan," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 40(4), pages 375-392, November.
    3. Christina Schmidt-Stolting & Eva Blomeke & Michel Clement, 2011. "Success Drivers of Fiction Books: An Empirical Analysis of Hardcover and Paperback Editions in Germany," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 24-47.
    4. Berry, Steven & Levinsohn, James & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 841-890, July.
    5. Vidar Ringstad & Knut Løyland, 2006. "The Demand for Books Estimated by Means of Consumer Survey Data," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 30(2), pages 141-155, September.
    6. Lucien Karpik, 2010. "Valuing the Unique: The Economics of Singularities," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9215.
    7. Veblen, Thorstein, 2009. "The Theory of the Leisure Class," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199552580 edited by Banta, Martha.
    8. Alan T. Sorensen, 2007. "Bestseller Lists And Product Variety," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 715-738, December.
    9. John Ashworth & Bruno Heyndels & Kristien Werck, 2010. "Expert judgements and the demand for novels in Flanders," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 34(3), pages 197-218, August.
    10. Frederick van der Ploeg, 2004. "Beyond the Dogma of the Fixed Book Price Agreement," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 28(1), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Clerides, Sofronis K., 2002. "Book value: intertemporal pricing and quality discrimination in the US market for books," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(10), pages 1385-1408, December.
    12. Chr. Hjorth-Andersen, 2000. "A Model of the Danish Book Market," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 24(1), pages 27-43, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Samuel Cameron, 2019. "Cultural economics, books and reading," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(4), pages 517-526, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul Crosby, 2019. "Don’t judge a book by its cover: examining digital disruption in the book industry using a stated preference approach," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(4), pages 607-637, December.
    2. Perona, Mathieu, 2009. "Bookshop, blockbusters and readers’ tastes: a new appraisal of the fixed book price," MPRA Paper 17857, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. repec:pra:mprapa:40306 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Sumiko Asai, 2016. "Determinants of demand and price for best-selling novels in paperback in Japan," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 40(4), pages 375-392, November.
    5. Fernández Blanco, Víctor & Prieto Rodríguez,Juan, 2009. "Análisis de los hábitos de lectura como una decisión económica/," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 27, pages 113-138, Abril.
    6. John Ashworth & Bruno Heyndels & Kristien Werck, 2010. "Expert judgements and the demand for novels in Flanders," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 34(3), pages 197-218, August.
    7. Luca Aguzzoni & Elena Argentesi & Lorenzo Ciari & Tomaso Duso & Massimo Tognoni, 2016. "Ex post Merger Evaluation in the U.K. Retail Market for Books," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(1), pages 170-200, March.
    8. Samuel Cameron, 2019. "Cultural economics, books and reading," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(4), pages 517-526, December.
    9. Productivity Commission, 2009. "Restrictions on the Parallel Importation of Books," Research Reports, Productivity Commission, Government of Australia, number 34.
    10. Canoy, Marcel & van Ours, Jan C. & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2006. "The Economics of Books," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, in: V.A. Ginsburgh & D. Throsby (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 21, pages 721-761, Elsevier.
    11. Karol Jan Borowiecki & Trilce Navarrete, 2018. "Fiscal and economic aspects of book consumption in the European Union," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 309-339, May.
    12. Ursprung, Heinrich W., 2021. "Financial returns to collecting rare political economy books," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Edlira Shehu & Tim Prostka & Christina Schmidt-Stölting & Michel Clement & Eva Blömeke, 2014. "The influence of book advertising on sales in the German fiction book market," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 38(2), pages 109-130, May.
    14. Michel Clement & Anke Hille & Bernd Lucke & Christina Schmidt-Stölting & Frank Sambeth, 2008. "Der Einfluss von Rankings auf den Absatz — Eine empirische Analyse der Wirkung von Bestsellerlisten und Rangpositionen auf den Erfolg von Büchern," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 60(8), pages 746-777, December.
    15. Meiseberg, Brinja, 2016. "The Effectiveness of E-tailers’ Communication Practices in Stimulating Sales of Niche versus Popular Products," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 319-332.
    16. Juan Jiménez & Javier Campos, 2010. "Modelling Competition in the Textbook Market: Some Lessons still to Learn," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 71-85, March.
    17. Villarroya, Anna & Escardíbul, Josep-Oriol, 2010. "La demanda de libros y publicaciones periódicas en España/The Demand for Books and Periodicals in Spain," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 28, pages 195(22á)-19, Abril.
    18. Silvi Berger & Morten Hviid, 2019. "Who Should Set Book Prices?," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2019-07, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    19. Alexandra Kontolaimou & Pródromos-Ioánnis Prodromídis & Ioanna Konstantakopoulou, 2019. "The issue of fixed book pricing: Evidence based on the Greek experience," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 13(2), pages 102-120, December.
    20. Victor Fernandez-Blanco & Juan Prieto-Rodriguez & Javier Suarez-Pandiello, 2015. "A quantitative analysis of reading habits," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-05-2015, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised May 2015.
    21. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2018. "Demand for culture in Spain and the 2012 VAT rise," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 469-506, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Russian book market; demand function; income elasticity; luxury goods; price elasticity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cue:wpaper:awp-06-2017. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Paul Crosby (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aceiiea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.