Myths, Morals, and Movies

Stelios Michalopoulos and Christopher Rauh

Cambridge Working Papers in Economics from Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge

Abstract: Why are certain movies more successful in some markets than others? Are the entertainment products we consume reflective of our core beliefs? To answer these questions, we analyze international movie data and local tales using machine learning to measure a plot’s similarity to traditional motifs. Globally, ï¬ lms mirroring local folklore get wider screenings and earn more. Across US markets, movies matching ancestral stories attract more interest. Finally, ï¬ lms endorsing risk-taking, vengeance-seeking, and traditional gender roles outperform across markets holding similar historical and contemporary norms. Choosing to watch modern adaptations of stories passed down from our ancestors on the big screen reinforces cultural identity.

Keywords: Movies; Folklore; Culture; Values; Entertainment; Text Analysis; Media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N00 O10 P00 Z10 Z11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-cul, nep-evo, nep-his and nep-mac
Note: cr542
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pub ... pe-pdfs/cwpe2412.pdf

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cam:camdae:2412

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Cambridge Working Papers in Economics from Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jake Dyer ().