Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Department

Economics

Committee Chair

Joshua Hall

Committee Member

John Deskins

Committee Member

Bryan McCannon

Committee Member

John Dove

Abstract

During the first 60 years of television broadcasting, prime time programming was dominated by the "Big Three" networks--NBC, ABC, and CBS. Their dominance in the market functioned as an oligopoly, supported by longstanding regulatory structures. Beginning in the 1970s, a wave of deregulation and change from satellite technology swept the industry, making it easier for other firms to enter the market. In 1986, the premiere of FOX saw a viable fourth network break through to compete with the Big Three. This paper analyzes inefficiencies on both the cost and content production side of prime time television, using survival analysis to study both the practices of Big Three networks with respect to programming as well as potential gaps in Big Three coverage which were exploitable by FOX to gain a foothold, finding in particular that FOX's observed practice of stacking comedies on Sundays took place at the same time that Big Three networks were facing weakness on Sundays in terms of show survival.

In recent years, city governments across the U.S. have sought to address the problems of industrial decline and urban blight through initiatives designed to revitalize local areas and fill the empty coffers of municipal and state governments. One popular option in this quest has been a push for the legalization of gambling coupled with the construction of new casinos and other gambling facilities; of which the Hollywood Casino in Franklin County, OH (opened in 2012) is a good example. This paper uses several hedonic methods--including the standard hedonic model, a repeat-sales (RSR) model, and a hybrid model in the manner of \cite{case_quigley_1991}--to explore the effect of this new casino on property values. All methods find evidence of a negative effect on housing values associated with proximity to the casino, implying that at least with respect to individual plot values the addition of the casino is in fact a disamenity to residents. The final component of this paper seeks to measure whether the losses in property tax revenue associated with this decline in value meet or exceed the revenue stream generated from casino activities; finding evidence in favor of property tax tradeoffs in excess of casino revenues to the local government.

We use daily hotel data on price, occupancy, and revenue to analyze the economic impact of Pearl Jam's ``Home Shows'' in Seattle, WA. These two concerts were attended by over 100,000 Pearl Jam fans, many from outside the state of Washington, including international tourists. We find that the Home Shows generated approximately 230,000 hotel nights before, during, and after the two concerts. With an increase in the average daily room rate ranging from $12 six days prior to $144 on concert days, hotel revenue in Seattle increased by over $58 million as a result of the Home Shows. We estimate that increased demand from Pearl Jam fans led to an increase in hotel tax revenue of between $6.69 million and \$9.15 million. While the `Home Shows' received no direct public subsidy, we argue that our results represent a `best case' scenario on the public revenue side of large cultural events that attract tourists.

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