The "Death-Effect" on Collectible Prices

Victor Matheson and Robert Baade
Additional contact information
Robert Baade: Lake Forest College, http://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/faculty/baade

No 2003-12, Department of Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics, Williams College

Abstract: It has been widely observed that the price of celebrity memorabilia rises around the time of that person's death. Previous authors attribute this "death-effect" primarily to expectations on the part of collectors concerning the future supply of collectibles about the public figure as in the case of a durable goods monopolist. Our observations of the sports memorabilia market suggest that the increase in prices is instead due to a "nostalgia effect" as a result of the media attention that surrounds the death of a prominent public figure.

JEL-codes: D12 L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 16 pages
Date: 2003-05
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Published in Applied Economics, June 2004, v. 36, iss. 11, pp. 1151-55.

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Journal Article: 'Death effect' on collectible prices (2004)
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