Addictive behavior in cinema demand: evidence from Korea

It is intuitively plausible that the demand for cinema services may be partly driven by addiction or habit. Yet there is almost no empirical literature which tests for whether cinema demand is addictive. We estimate addiction models for cinema demand using Korean time series data from 1963 to 2004. Our estimation results indicate that (i) addictive behavior characterizes the demand for cinema services, (ii) this behavior is rational, and (iii) habit is one of most important determinants of cinema demand. Our results also reveal that cinema attendance is generally insensitive to admission price and unrelated to income.Cinema demand, rational addiction, myopic addiction, two-stages least squares, time-series analysis

Fiscal Policy and Inclusive Growth in Advanced Countries: Their Experience and Implications for Asia

Advanced economies have a significantly longer history of using fiscal policy to tackle inequality and promote inclusive growth than those in developing Asia. Therefore, as developing Asia explores the more active use of fiscal policy for inclusive purposes, it can learn from the experiences of advanced countries. Those experiences clearly suggest that fiscal policy can have a significant effect on inequality which provides some cause for optimism about its equity-promoting potential. Nevertheless, that optimism should be tempered by the different circumstances of advanced versus developing economies along with the need for developing Asia to maintain fiscal sustainability and economic growth