Drie mogelijke verklaringen voor de stagnerende ontwikkeling van het Nederlandse bioscoopbedrijf in de jaren dertig

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to the debate concerning the factors affecting film-going in the Netherlands in the 1930s. We start with an analysis of the nature of the Dutch cinema market by comparing it to the Anglo-Saxon model of film distribution and showing. We then examine the evidence concerning the part played by high prices, religion and social class. In doing this we model the impact of prices on film-going in the Dutch and British markets and produce evidence to suggest that as much as 80 per cent of the difference in cinema attendance between the two countries can be explained by that fact that much higher prices were being charged in the Netherlands. We also show that the presence of Protestants correlated negatively with cinema provisions (low number of cinema seats per capita) whereas the presence of wealthy tax-payers correlated positively with the number of cinema seats.