Title: Demand for Performance Goods: Import Quotas in the Chinese Movie Market

Speaker: Wang Yanfei, Associate Professor of the Department of Trade Economics, School of Business, Renmin University of China; obtained a doctoral degree from the Department of Economics, Boston University, USA. Her main research field is empirical industrial organization. Her academic papers have been published in journals such as Management Science, International Economic Review, Journal of Industrial Economics and China Economic Review.

Abstract: We evaluate Chinese restrictions on the number of foreign movies distributed domestically, particularly an increase in the quota in 2012. We estimate a structural model of consumer demand for movies. We solve a discrete choice model of consumer behavior that is dynamic in the sense that consumers may see movies only once. We find that the reliance on reduced-form age profiles is greatly reduced in our dynamic model relative to standard static approaches. Counterfactual experiments show that consumer welfare increases by 7.7% due to the import liberalization and that there is relatively little substitution between foreign and domestic movies.

Date & time: 19 May 2025, 09:30 - 11:30

Venue: B321, Zhixin Building, Central Campus, Shandong University