What is the economic impact of investments made by Online Video Services; and how can policymakers encourage and reap the benefits of such investments.

Working with The Motion Picture Association Frontier Economics has undertaken a study of the economic impact that Online Video Service providers have, and assessed the impact that “protectionist” cultural policies can have on video content production and distribution.

Online Video Services have a broad economic impact in countries they operate in, both through direct investment impacts and indirect impacts as their investments spur skills, innovation and infrastructure. Our work focused particularly on the following markets: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan.

We examined the relationship between protectionist policies and trade in audio-visual services. Our analysis measured the impact that tough protectionist cultural policy restrictions can have on broadcasting exports. We found that higher levels of protectionist policies are likely to reduce broadcasting exports. These results suggest that policymakers should carefully consider how cultural protectionist policies may affect the investment incentives of Online Video Services.

The Motion Picture Association has recently published the results of our work and research through a series of White Papers including for Indonesia and Korea.

For more information or questions about our work please contact media@frontier-economics.com or call +44 (0) 20 7031 7000.