Nodir Adilov, Peter J. Alexander, and Keith Brown, Working Paper, Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, 2007.
We develop a model of product choice in media markets and combine the model with a unique data set to explore the effect of cross-media ownership on local broadcasters' provision of local news. We find that newspaper ownership in another city decreases local news stories and increases non-local news stories. Cross-radio ownership decreases local news stories. Radio station ownership in another city increases non-local news stories. WCAX, the sole locally-owned single-station in the sample, airs more local news. WSB, the sole television station in our sample that owns a newspaper within the market, airs more local and non-local news stories.
Peter J. Alexander, Adam Candeub, and Brendan M. Cunningham, Working Paper, Michigan State University and the United States Naval Academy, 2007.
We present a model of consumer and firm behavior in mobile markets in order to identify the role of termination charges in determining the market equilibrium. Our model predicts a "waterbed effect,' that is, high termination rates will be associated with low subscription prices, if preferences are the main source of variation in termination rates. If costs are the main driver of termination rates our model predicts a "tide" hypothesis in which high termination rates exist alongside high subscription prices. We test these predictions and find evidence that mobile termination rates are positive and significantly related to mobile phone adoption. We also find that competition, internet subscriptions, and a free press are positively associated with mobile phone adoption while fixed termination rates and inequality slow the adoption of mobile technologies.
Peter J. Alexander and Brendan M. Cunningham, Working Paper, United States Naval Academy, 2005.
Consumers derive uncertain utility from media output, in particular, news. We suggest that consumer welfare is enhanced by the existence of diversity in news output and that diversity of news output is related to market structure. We employ two novel databases measuring broadcast news content at the local and national levels in order to quantify news diversity, and find evidence that measures of market structure among broadcast media firms are a statistically significant determinant of diversity, conditional upon a variety of demographic and economic determinants. We also present evidence that a broader indicator of market structure, capturing the level of competition from cable programming, displays a positive, significant, and robust relationship with diversity.
Nodir Adilov and Peter J. Alexander, Working Paper, 2002.
In this paper, we explore the implications of most-favored-customers clauses in the cable industry. We show that the introduction of a most-favored-customer clause for large buyers will increase their profitability, and that the sellers profits may decrease.