"Bru-u-u-uce": The simple economics of mob goods

This paper provides a pure economic rationale for chronic excess demand for tickets to events like rock concerts. The model focuses on "mob goods", which are consumed jointly with crowd reaction, or "noise". Whereas the primary commodity is provided by the seller, the joint product is provided collectively by buyers. If propensities to make noise are inversely correlated with reservation prices and a capacity constraint applies, excess demand (queuing) is a necessary condition for profit maximization. One important implication is that anti-scalping laws may be welfare-increasing. The paper explores other applications in professional sports, restaurants, and on-stage theatre.     

Pluralistic programming and radio diversity: a review and a proposal

While radio is America's most abundant medium, its content is characterized more by sameness than by diversity. Stations find it more profitable to duplicate mass appeal programming formats than to program to minority tastes. Such rational business decisions come at the expense of the listening audience which is given few formats from which to choose. The regulatory system, which speaks to the value of program diversity, has been unsuccessful in creating effective incentives to foster radio diversity. The article suggests a novel approach to radio regulation that combines economic incentives with new methods for identifying audience preferences such that a profit-maximizing radio industry would serve more tastes than are presently served.An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Mass Communication and Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism, Boston, August 1980.     

Dimensions of adolescent self-images

Using techniques derived from information theory, structural dimensions of adolescent self-images were studied. Within a sample of 58 adolescents, patients and normals, a variety of self-images were obtained using a specially designed Q-sort. The initial hypothesis predicted, on the basis of previous findings, that the idealized self-images would be more polarizedfor the patients. This hypothesis was only partiallyconfirmed. the self-idealization was significantly more polarized in the patient group. But the other two idealizations (those based on parental expectations) did not reflect a patient-normal difference. Rather, a significant three-way interaction of sex, age, and psychiatric status was found for these self-images, as well as for the current self-image. The consistent pattern in these three-way interactions was that late-adolescent boys polarized their self-images if they were in the normal group and had structurally complex (nonpolarized) self-images if they were in the patient group. The paper concludes by discussing the meaning of these findings. A framework for interpreting polarization is proposed and applied to the results. In addition, the notion of a Self-Image Profile is formulated and further elaborated. Finally, the relevance of these studies to other personality research and clinical observations is considered.This investigation was supported in part by a Research Scientist Development Award, Number K1-70-178, to S.T.H.Received M.A. in social anthropology from Harvard University and M.D. from Yale University. Candidate, Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, 1969-. Currently studying self-image and cognitive development in populations of normal and psychiatrically impaired adolescents, from individual and group perspectives.Received M.D. from the University of Chicago; attended the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute (1952–1954) and the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute (1954–1961). Presently on staff of Washington School of Psychiatry and Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. Major research interests are adolescence and the family and psychoanalytic-oriented treatment in conjunction with a ward or in-patient milieu therapy. Specific interest is identity formation of adolescence.