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Does the long tail really favor small publishers?

Author

Listed:
  • Stéphanie Peltier

    (University of La Rochelle
    University of Sorbonne Nouvelle
    Département LEA - 1)

  • Françoise Benhamou

    (University of Paris 13)

  • Mamoudou Touré

    (University of Paris 13
    BETA University of Strasbourg)

Abstract

A growing body of literature is devoted to testing the reality of the “long-tail” phenomenon. This literature is mostly, if not exclusively, focused on the impact of Internet on the distribution of sales by product. However, the long tail also raises the issue of a possible change in the usual market structure of cultural industries: an oligopoly with a competitive fringe. To our knowledge, no paper addresses the following question: If the long-tail effect does exist, is it of more benefit to small or dominant publishers? The aim of this paper was to address this issue in the context of the French publishing industry. Our main findings are as follows: (1) the market concentration of the French book industry is lower online than offline and (2) the difference in concentration between the two channels of distribution tended to widen over the period 2004–2010. Strategies adopted by leading publishers on the Web do not allow them to maintain the market share obtained with bricks-and-mortar retailers. Furthermore, we show that the market share lost by dominant firms is captured by small publishers online and by medium-sized publishers in conventional stores.

Suggested Citation

  • Stéphanie Peltier & Françoise Benhamou & Mamoudou Touré, 2016. "Does the long tail really favor small publishers?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 40(4), pages 393-412, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:40:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s10824-015-9257-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10824-015-9257-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Michael D. Smith, 2003. "Consumer Surplus in the Digital Economy: Estimating the Value of Increased Product Variety at Online Booksellers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(11), pages 1580-1596, November.
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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Long tail; Sales concentration; Market structure; Publishing industry; Books; Internet;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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