Talent and publicity as determinants of superstar incomes: empirical evidence from the motion picture industry

Wirtschaftswissenschaften

Opitz, Christian, Hofmann, Kay H.

Talent and publicity as determinants of superstar incomes: empirical evidence from the motion picture industry

Opitz, Christian, Hofmann, Kay H.: Talent and publicity as determinants of superstar incomes: empirical evidence from the motion picture industry, Applied Economics, 2019; Jg. 51 (13): 1383-1395.

Originalarbeiten in wissenschaftlichen Fachzeitschriften mit Review-Verfahren

By drawing on the two prevailing economic stardom theories, the paper investigates the sources of superstardom in the US movie industry. For the econometric analysis, we use income and popularity data of screen actresses and actors from the annual Celebrity 100 lists as published by Forbes Magazine. The empirical findings indicate that Hollywood, in contrast to other professional settings, supports two different types of stars. While ‘talent stars’ exploit acting merit, it is media exposure that drives the income of ‘publicity stars’. Apparently, in the motion picture industry both underlying resources are equally important and equally valued. Based on these insights we develop concrete recommendations for the career management of artists and the management of film projects.

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