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DO MOVIE PRODUCTION INCENTIVES GENERATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?
Author(s) -
Bradbury John Charles
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/coep.12443
Subject(s) - incentive , economics , subsidy , exploit , production (economics) , instrumental variable , multiplier (economics) , investment (military) , macroeconomics , public economics , microeconomics , econometrics , market economy , computer science , computer security , politics , political science , law
Movie production incentives (MPIs) are a popular economic development strategy employed by U.S. states. Film subsidies are intended to encourage external investment into a nascent industry that spills over onto complementary industries to generate economic growth through a multiplier. Despite their widespread use, the positive impact of MPIs on state economies has not been documented, and several states have halted their MPI programs due to high costs and questionable efficacy. This study exploits the staggered implementation, suspension, and elimination of film incentive programs across states to estimate the macroeconomic impact of MPIs. Instrumental variable estimates that permit causal inference do not support the hypothesized positive impacts of film incentives on state economies. ( JEL H25, H71, L82, R11, R38, Z11, Z18)