September 8, 11am-12pm
Raul Katz, Director of Business Strategy, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
"Quotas vs. Incentives for the Development of Domestic Audiovisual Production? An Economic Impact Assessment"
This seminar reported empirical evidence on the impact of title quotas as well as production incentives on the development of domestic audiovisual content.
Governments seek to encourage domestic audiovisual production to preserve and promote their cultural heritage, boost economic growth by developing the audiovisual industry, and leverage comparative advantage in creative industries, thereby increasing national competitiveness. In order to achieve these goals, authorities implement policies around two main policy domains: (i) incentives for the development of a domestic audiovisual production industry (including tax exemptions, cash rebates, financing opportunities, public-private investment in production studios), and (ii) the imposition of domestic content distribution quotas (i.e., a screen quota on free-to-air broadcasting, or quota in catalogs of OTT services).
The empirical evidence shows that title quotas have not contributed to the development of domestic audiovisual content. The increasing ‘localization’ of the OTT platform catalogs across the world is mainly due to the ongoing competition between operators to meet audience demand. Furthermore, government incentives given to the audiovisual industry, such as tax exemptions, financing opportunities and cash rebates, have positively complemented natural market trends, contributing to an increase in domestic production and the subsequent creation of jobs within the sector.
Dr. Raul Katz is the Director of Business Strategy Research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia Business School (New York), and President of Telecom Advisory Services. He holds a PhD in in Political Science and Management Science and MS in Communication Technologies and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Maitrise and Licence in Communications Sciences from the University of Paris; Maitrise in Political Science from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Dr. Katz worked with Booz Allen & Hamilton for 20 years, where he was Head of the US and Latin America Telecommunication Practices and a member of the firm’s Leadership Team.