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Demand Analysis of Novels Released as Books and Pocket-Sized Paperbacks in Japan

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Abstract

The present study estimates demand functions for novels released as books and pocket-sized paperbacks to examine factors affecting demand by format. The results show that the effects on the number of copies sold of an author’s celebrity, tie-in with a movie or television program, and literary awards differ statistically between the two formats. In addition, the findings show that demand for book and pocket-sized paperback novels is price elastic, imply that there is room for reviewing the Japanese fixed-price system. Furthermore, electronic publishing reduces printed novel sales, although the ratio of novels accessible as e-books to printed novels is relatively low in Japan.

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Notes

  1. Globally, printed novels are classified as hardcovers and paperbacks. By contrast, in Japan, printed novels are classified by book size, that is, B6-sized book versus pocket-sized paperback (A6 size). Although the majority of B6-sized books are hardcovers, some others have softcover editions of the same size.

  2. Although resale price maintenance (i.e., the setting of retail prices by producers) is prohibited in principle by the Antimonopoly Act, the rule does not apply to cultural goods, such as print books and music CDs. However, although publishers have the option to fix their book prices or permit bookstores to change prices under the system, the prices of almost all books, in fact, are set by publishers and are unchanged by retailers.

  3. Although data on e-book sales or the number of downloads by title are not available in Japan, Impress [10] reports that Amazon’s Kindle Store has been used most frequently. As of January 2016, the number of e-book titles excluding magazines and foreign books released by Amazon was 530,000, whereas the number of titles released from kobo was 360,000, according to information from Amazon’s and kobo’s websites. The present study relies on data from the Amazon website to assess whether a novel is electronically distributed, since it is assumed that Amazon supplies the most titles among e-book providers in Japan.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15k03470.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University, 1-1, Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-8301, Japan

    Sumiko Asai

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  1. Sumiko Asai
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Correspondence to Sumiko Asai.

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Asai, S. Demand Analysis of Novels Released as Books and Pocket-Sized Paperbacks in Japan. Pub Res Q 33, 147–159 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-017-9502-y

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