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Political backlash and consumer boycotts: Evidence from the NFB relocation and movie demand in Canada

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  • Ricard Gil
  • Jingyi Xing

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the impact of the announcement in 1952 of a change in Canadian cultural policy, namely the reorganization of the National Film Board (NFB) and the move of its headquarters from Ottawa to Montréal, on movie demand. Using weekly box office revenue data for a subsample of movie theatres in Toronto and Montréal from 1945 to 1955, we estimate the impact of this policy change with a triple difference estimator and find that the NFB headquarters move in Canada was followed by a decrease in movie attendance for movies produced in anglophone countries and an increase in movie attendance for French movies in Montréal. We complement our analysis with Odesi public poll Canadian data from 1949 to 1959 and find that poll respondents from Quebec held a more negative opinion about the decisions of the Canadian government and the tide of Americanization, relative to respondents elsewhere, and that their opinion deteriorated further after the relocation announcement and the relocation itself took place. This finding is consistent with our hypothesis that the relocation of NFB headquarters caused political backlash and triggered a boycott against anglophone, especially American, movies in Quebec. Contrecoup politique et boycottages des consommateurs : relocalisation de l'ONF et demande cinématographique au Canada. Dans cet article, nous étudions la répercussion de l'annonce de 1952 concernant un changement apporté à la politique culturelle canadienne, à savoir la réorganisation de l'Office national du film (ONF) et le déménagement de son siège social d'Ottawa à Montréal, sur la demande cinématographique. À l'aide des données sur les recettes hebdomadaires des salles de cinéma d'un sous‐échantillon de cinémas de Toronto et de Montréal entre 1945 et 1955, nous utilisons un estimateur de triples différences pour évaluer les répercussions de la modification de la politique, et nous constatons que le déménagement du siège social de l'ONF a eu une incidence sur l'assistance dans les cinémas montréalais : diminution pour les films produits dans des pays anglophones et hausse pour les films en français. Nous complétons notre analyse par les données canadiennes de sondages publics ODESI de 1949 à 1959 et observons que les répondants québécois aux sondages avaient une opinion plus négative sur les décisions du gouvernement canadien et la vague d'américanisation, par rapport aux répondants ailleurs, et que leur opinion a continué de se détériorer après l'annonce du déménagement et le déménagement en soi. Cette constatation est conforme à notre hypothèse selon laquelle le déménagement du siège social de l'ONF a causé un contrecoup politique et déclenché un boycottage contre les films en anglais, et surtout américains, au Québec.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricard Gil & Jingyi Xing, 2024. "Political backlash and consumer boycotts: Evidence from the NFB relocation and movie demand in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 933-960, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:57:y:2024:i:3:p:933-960
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12730
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    References listed on IDEAS

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