Cultural Exception? Cerna seminar: The Impact of Price Regulation on Prices and Variety in the Market for Books

We are pleased to announce that Christos Genakos (Cambridge) will be the next speaker in our CERNA Research Seminar. The seminar will take place Wednesday, January 21, 2026 at 4 PM in Salle Vendome.

Christos will present his paper:

Cultural Exception? The Impact of Price Regulation on Prices and Variety in the Market for Books

(joint work with Mario Pagliero, Lorien Sabatino and Tommaso Valletti)

Fixed Book Price (FBP) agreements are a form of resale price maintenance aimed at promoting book variety by restricting retail price competition. Using a comprehensive dataset on the Italian book market before and after FBP implementation, we find that FBP raises prices but does not significantly impact the number of new titles published. However, it increases the variety of books purchased, particularly from independent bookstores. A structural demand model reveals that consumers benefit overall due to improved service quality. Additional evidence suggests FBP shifts competition from price to service, offering insights for resale price maintenance policies.

There will be an opportunity to schedule individual meetings and/or join lunch/dinner with Christos before the seminar.

Please enter your preferred time slot here.