This research presents a systematic empirical analysis of the market for digital versatile discs (DVDs). We examine a sample of 953 DVD titles that appeared on the weekly top-30 sales charts in North America over a 30-month interval. We find that the size distribution of weekly DVD sales revenue...

This paper presents evidence from a laboratory experiment regarding the effect of information about opportunities and effort in redistributive behavior. In the experiment, individuals are randomly selected into one of two groups, each endowed with differing probabilities of earning $20. By...

We address the estimation of stochastic volatility demand systems. In particular, we relax the homoscedasticity assumption and instead assume that the covariance matrix of the errors of demand systems is time-varying. Since most economic and fiÂ…nancial time series are nonlinear, we achieve...

Piracy is one of the most challenging problems faced by the motion picture industry. The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that US studios lose more than $3 billion annually in box office revenue from piracy. They have launched a major effort to prevent these losses. Yet their...

The oil refining industry in China has faced rapid growth in oil imports of increasingly sour grades of crude with which to satisfy growing domestic demand for a slate of lighter and cleaner finished products sold at subsidized prices. At the same time, the world petroleum refining industry has...

This special issue of the Journal of Econometrics honorsWilliam A. BarnettÂ’s exceptional contributions to unifying economic theory with rigorous statistical inference to interpret economic data and inform public policy. It is devoted to papers that advance microeconometrics,...

This article applies recently developed nonparametric kernel regression estimation methods to quantify the conditional distribution of motion picture earnings. The nonparametric, data-driven approach allows the full range of relations among variables to be captured, including nonlinearities that...

The blockbuster strategy---using big budgets, stars, and advertising to create high opening week box office grosses---is based on the theory that motion picture audiences follow an information cascade by choosing movies according to how heavily they are advertised, what stars are in them, and...