>From Mark Steckbeck:
--
Prof. Bryan Caplan
Department of Economics George Mason University
http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"He was thinking that Prince Andrei was in error and did not see the
true light, and that he, Pierre, ought to come to his aid, to
enlighten and uplift him. But no sooner had he thought out what he
should say and how to say it than he foresaw that Prince Andrei,
with one word, a single argument, would discredit all his teachings,
and he was afraid to begin, afraid to expose to possible ridicule
what he cherished and held sacred."
Leo Tolstoy, *War and Peace*
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Bryan,
I am not at home where I have access to my email account related to the
Armchair list. Can you post this for me.
Thanks,
Mark
Alex's question does not pertain to individuals taking film from their
own personal cameras to be developed. What his question pertains to is the
hiring of a professional photographer who, for example, comes to your
business (or home) to photograph scenes for an annual report (or a family
portrait). It is customary for photographers to provide you with a set
number of copies of specific prints and to retain the negatives.
Alex poses two questions: Is a two-part tariff efficient and, if not, 2)
why doesn't entry into the market change it.
First, I presume that the two-part pricing scheme is efficient from a
price discrimination point of view. There is little probability that the
median consumer of photography services will purchase reprints from existing
negatives. Those who do obviously have a more inelastic demand curve. (I
once did a shoot for the Metropolitan Washington, DC Baptist Church. I
provided them with however many copies they requested and kept the
negatives. Only one person contacted me later for reprints and, considering
the desperation in her voice, I believe I could easily have charged her say
$20 or $30 per reprint).
Second, I do know of photographers who will sell the rights to the
negatives (i.e., their rights, property rights to negatives belong the the
photographer) but they are generally either newcomers to the profession or
failing photographers with high time preferences relative to better
photographers (i.e., they need cash now). I presume therefore, that either
Alex's search costs are too high to find one of them, or his demand for
quality precludes him from considering hiring their services. Similarly,
anyone seeking to purchase rights to the negatives signals to a prospective
photographer their expected future demand curve for reprints.
Mark Steckbeck
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