Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cep/cepdps/dp1663.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Technical change and superstar effects: evidence from the roll-out of television

Author

Listed:
  • Felix Koenig
Abstract
Technical change that improves economies of scale can generate fast income growth among top earners at the expense of everyone else. I test this classic "superstar model" in the labor market for entertainers where the historic roll-out of television led to a natural experiment in scale-related technological change. The launch of a local TV station multiplied audiences of top entertainers nearly fourfold and resulted in a 50% increase of the top percentile's income share, a more right-skewed income distribution, and significant income losses for lower ranked entertainers. The results confirm the predictions of the "superstar model" and are at odds with canonical models of skill-biased technological change.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Koenig, 2019. "Technical change and superstar effects: evidence from the roll-out of television," CEP Discussion Papers dp1663, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1663
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1663.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-71, March.
    2. Simon Kuznets & Elizabeth Jenks, 1953. "Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings (1953)," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kuzn53-1.
    3. Daniel R. Feenberg & James M. Poterba, 1993. "Income Inequality and the Incomes of Very High-Income Taxpayers: Evidence from Tax Returns," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 7, pages 145-177, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Simon Kuznets & Elizabeth Jenks, 1953. "Shares of Upper Income Groups in Savings," NBER Chapters, in: Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings (1953), pages 171-218, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Anthony Atkinson & Thomas Piketty, 2010. "Top Incomes : A Global Perspective," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00754875, HAL.
    6. David H. Autor & David Dorn, 2013. "The Growth of Low-Skill Service Jobs and the Polarization of the US Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1553-1597, August.
    7. Denis Chetverikov & Bradley Larsen & Christopher Palmer, 2016. "IV Quantile Regression for Group‐Level Treatments, With an Application to the Distributional Effects of Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 809-833, March.
    8. Thomas Blanchet & Juliette Fournier & Thomas Piketty, 2022. "Generalized Pareto Curves: Theory and Applications," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 263-288, March.
    9. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    10. Sattinger, Michael, 1975. "Comparative Advantage and the Distributions of Earnings and Abilities," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 43(3), pages 455-468, May.
    11. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-858, December.
    12. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
    13. Thomas Lemieux, 2006. "Increasing Residual Wage Inequality: Composition Effects, Noisy Data, or Rising Demand for Skill?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 461-498, June.
    14. Atkinson, A. B. & Piketty, Thomas (ed.), 2010. "Top Incomes: A Global Perspective," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286898.
    15. Mark Finkelstein & Howard G. Tucker & Jerry Alan Veeh, 2006. "Pareto Tail Index Estimation Revisited," North American Actuarial Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10.
    16. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2008. "Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 300-323, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Morten Olsen & Joshua Gottlieb & David Hemous & Jeffrey Clemens, 2017. "The Spill-over Effects of Top Income Inequality," 2017 Meeting Papers 332, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Marcus Biermann, 2021. "Remote talks: changes to economics seminars during Covid-19," CEP Discussion Papers dp1759, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Rachel Scarfe & Carl Singleton & Paul Telemo, 2021. "Extreme Wages, Performance, and Superstars in a Market for Footballers," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 84-118, January.
    4. Böken, Johannes & Draca, Mirko & Mastrorocco, Nicola & Ornaghi, Arianna, 2023. "The Returns to Viral Media: The Case of US Campaign Contributions," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 681, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    5. Kim, Woojin, 2022. "Television and American consumerism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    6. Biermann, Marcus, 2021. "Remote talks: changes to economics seminars during Covid-19," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114429, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-71, March.
    2. Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez & Emmanuel Chavez & Gerardo Esquivel, 2017. "Growth is (really) good for the (really) rich," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 2639-2675, December.
    3. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    4. Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Piketty, Thomas, 2018. "Income inequality in France, 1900–2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 63-77.
    5. Katharina Jenderny, 2016. "Mobility of Top Incomes in Germany," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(2), pages 245-265, June.
    6. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102834, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Kleven, Henrik J. & Luttmer, Erzo F.P., 2018. "A special issue of the Journal of Public Economics: Honoring the work of Sir Anthony B. Atkinson (1944–2017)," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1-3.
    8. Paweł Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 187-239, June.
    9. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102814, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110221, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," CEP Discussion Papers dp1628, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    13. Bartels, Charlotte & Waldenström, Daniel, 2021. "Inequality and top incomes," GLO Discussion Paper Series 959, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Piketty, Thomas & Bozio, Antoine & Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Guillot, Malka, 2020. "Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Evidence from France and the U.S," CEPR Discussion Papers 15415, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Luis Bauluz & Sebastien Breau & Pawel Bukowski & Mark Fransham & Annie Seong Lee & Neil Lee & Margarita Lopez Forero & Clement Malgouyres & Filip Novokmet & Moritz Schularick & Gregory Verdugo, 2023. "Spatial wage inequality in North America and Western Europe: changes between and within local labour markets 1975-2019," CEP Discussion Papers dp1941, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    16. Alvaredo, Facundo & Cogneau, Denis & Piketty, Thomas, 2021. "Income inequality under colonial rule. Evidence from French Algeria, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Vietnam and comparisons with British colonies 1920–1960," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    17. Thomas Blanchet & Ignacio Flores & Marc Morgan, 2022. "The weight of the rich: improving surveys using tax data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 119-150, March.
    18. Filip Novokmet, 2018. "The long-run evolution of inequality in the Czech Lands, 1898-2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02878212, HAL.
    19. Filip Novokmet, 2018. "The long-run evolution of inequality in the Czech Lands, 1898-2015," PSE Working Papers hal-02878212, HAL.
    20. Antoine Bozio & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Malka Guillot & Thomas Piketty, 2018. "Inequality and Redistribution in France, 1990-2018: Evidence from Post-Tax Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Working Papers hal-02878151, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Superstar Effect; inequality; top incomes; technical change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1663. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion-papers/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.