Handbook On The Economics Of Leisure

This interdisciplinary Handbook combines both mainstream and heterodox economics to assess the nature, scope and importance of leisure activities.

Surprisingly, the field of leisure economics is not, thus far, a particularly integrated or coherent one. In this Handbook a wide ranging body of international scholars get to grips with the core issues, taking in the traditional income/leisure choice model of textbook microeconomics and Becker’s allocation of time model along the way. They expertly apply economics to some usually neglected topics, such as boredom and sleeping, work–life balance, dating, tourism, health and fitness, sport, video games, social networking, music festivals and sex. Contributions from further afield by Veblen, Sctivosky and Bourdieu also feature prominently.

Applying a mix of both theoretical and empirical data, undergraduate students in modules on sport/leisure economics as well as sport/leisure management will find this important resource invaluable.

Contents:

Introduction

1. Overview of the Economics of Leisure
Samuel Cameron

PART I: ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS OF LEISURE
2. On Economics, Leisure and Much More
Alessandro Balestrino

3. Towards a Bourdieusian Economics of Leisure
Andrew B. Trigg

4. Leisure and Subjective Well-being
Victoria Ateca-Amestoy

PART II: WORK/LEISURE BALANCE
5. The Economics of Sleep and Boredom
Samuel Cameron

6. Half Full or Half Empty: The Economics of Work–Life Balance
Samuel Cameron and Mark Fox

7. Working from Home: Leisure Gain or Leisure Loss?
Samuel Cameron and Mark Fox

8. Contradictions of Capitalism in Health and Fitness Leisure
Simeon Scott

PART III: PEOPLE AND PLACES AS LEISURE
9. Dating as Leisure
Véronique Flambard, Nicolas Vaillant and François-Charles Wolff

10. Home Improvements
Peter E. Earl and Ti-Ching Peng

11. Reconsidering the Silk Road: Tourism in the Context of Regionalism and Trade Patterns
Karen Jackson

PART IV: SPECTATING AND EVENTS
12. Leisure Tribe-onomics
Darragh O’Reilly

13. The Significance of Commercial Music Festivals
Gretchen Larsen and Stephanie Hussels

14. The Rise and Decline of Drive-in Cinemas in the United States
Mark Fox and Grant Black

15. Entertainment and Economic Contributions of the Indian Hindi Movie Industry
Rajesh K. Pillania and Subhojit Banerjee

16. Leisure Time, Cinema and the Structure of Household Entertainment Expenditure, 1890–1940
Gerben Bakker

17. Long-run Trends and Factors in Attendance Patterns in Sport: Australian Football League, 1945–2009
Liam J.A. Lenten

18. The Changing Demands of Leisure Time: The Emergence of Twenty20 Cricket
David Paton and Andrew Cooke

PART V: DIVERSIONS AND PERVERSIONS
19. The Economics of the Video-gaming Leisure Market
Joe Cox

20. Competitive Forces in the US Recreational Vehicle Industry
Mark Fox, Lane David and Grant Black

21. Magazines
Gillian Doyle

22. The Impact of New Technology on Leisure Networks
Vincent G. Fitzsimons

23. Girls Just Want to Have Fun? Internet Leisure and Women’s Empowerment in Jordan
Deborah L. Wheeler and Lauren Mintz

24. Sexual Leisure Markets
Alan Collins

Index