Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP4892
Authors: Marcel Canoy; Frederick van der Ploeg; Jan C. van Ours
Abstract: The tensions between books and book markets as expressions of culture and books as products in profit-making businesses are analysed and insights from the theory of industrial organisation are given. Governments intervene in the market for books through laws concerning prices of books, grants for authors and publishers, a lower value-added tax, public libraries and education in order to stimulate the diversity of books on offer, increase the density of retail outlets and to promote reading. An overview of the different ways by which countries differ in terms of market structures and government policies is given. Particular attention is paid to retail price maintenance. Due to differences between European countries it is not a good idea to harmonise European book policies. Our analysis suggests that the book market seems quite able to invent solutions to specific problems of the book trade and that, apart from promoting reading, there is little need for government intervention.
Keywords: authors; books; diversity; internet; libraries; monopolistic competition; publishers; retail price maintenance; subsidies
JEL Codes: D40; D60; L10; L40; Z11
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| government intervention (O25) | diversity of books available (Y92) |
| retail price maintenance (RPM) (L42) | number of book titles published (Y30) |
| higher education (I23) | book production (A30) |