Market failure is a slippery economic term, covering instances where markets are inefficient or missing altogether, i.e. the consumer pays over the odds or cannot obtain a desirable good. Bärwolff argues convincingly that a combination of intellectual property rights and contractual licensing...

Television formats have become a major export industry for Britain and the United States (who together account for nearly two thirds of all format hours broadcast annually worldwide). Yet, there is no such thing as a television format right under copyright law. Any producer is free to develop...

A formal definition of cultural industries is developed following four distinct features of cultural goods: (a) oversupply, (b) quality uncertainty, (c) network effects and (d) demand reversal. Drawing on economic and socio-psychological notions of ‘network’, increasing returns and social...

Escalating social practices spread dynamically, as they take hold. They are selffulfilling and contagious. This article examines two central social practices, trust and corruption, which may be characterized as alternative economic lubricants. Corruption can be a considerable instrument of...

Escalating social practices spread dynamically, as they take hold. They are self fulfilling and contagious. This article examines two central social practices, trust and corruption, which may be characterized as alternative economic lubricants. Corruption can be a considerable instrument of...