Estimation of the output value of Taiwan's film industry

Abstract

Taiwan's film industry has great market potential and the recent suggestions by director An Li concerning the increase of investments in film production by the public sector give rise to an important question: how to maximize the investment within the film production industry in order to command significant economic benefit. Film production is technically a service oriented industry. Discrepancies persist during the estimation of its output value and thus affect the efficiency and effectiveness of policy formation and financial subsidies in this industry. We propose to use the methods Fritz Machlup used when he tried to measure the production of knowledge in the USA. Each film industry operator may consider declaring their expenditures. Using this method, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics will be able to audit more objectively. After that, we may follow the method of Michael Rogers Rubin, Mary Taylor Huber, and Elizabeth Lloyd Taylor to establish a project case during the next Industry, Commerce and Service Census (ICSC). In the project case, an input-output table is established between the film industry and other cultural industries, so as to determine the industry with the strongest front-and-back link. This will be a crucial point for the public sectors guiding the development of the film production industry.