Abstract
Theatres have a market bounded by the distance theatregoers are willing to travel to see shows and productions. This paper uses count data models (Poisson regression and negative binomial models) to investigate the determinants of attendance at a regional theatre in England. It uses booking data for 29 theatrical productions supplied by the theatre, and matches this, using postcodes, with census socio-economic information on household characteristics. Socio-economic and travel cost (distance) are used to explore theatregoers attendance, and also to estimate consumer surplus, and to assess whether consumer surplus on ticket sales exceeds the annual government subsidy to the theatre.
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Notes
These productions included comedy (e.g. Cattle Call; Brendon Burns), drama classical (e.g. Far From The Madding Crowd; Molora), drama modern (e.g. Delirium), experimental (e.g. My Arm Oak Tree), and family shows (e.g. Gormenghast; Life of Pi) and family Christmas shows (e.g. The Goblin who saved Christmas; Hansel and Gretel).
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Acknowledgments
This work is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Arts Council England [Grant: AHRC Fellowship in Economic Impact Assessment of Arts and Humanities]. We would like to thank Edmund Nickols, Director of Theatre Operations at Northern Stage, for his support of this research and to Jamie Corbett, Data Manager at Northern Stage, for supplying the bookings data for the study.
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Willis, K.G., Snowball, J.D., Wymer, C. et al. A count data travel cost model of theatre demand using aggregate theatre booking data. J Cult Econ 36, 91–112 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-011-9157-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-011-9157-z