The borders of the domestic market and their importance for the economy of the film industry: The Swiss case study

Abstract

This study analyses the economic relevance of the domestic market for national film industries, adopting first a historical and theoretical approach, and then by using Switzerland as a case study for quantitative research on film consumption.The analysis of the Swiss film market has a triple purpose: (1) to confirm the importance of the domestic market for the economy of national film industries; (2) to discover how the Swiss market can be considered (a single national market? three distinct markets? or an extension of the German, French and Italian cinema markets?); and (3) to discover if it still makes sense to consider the domestic market as a trade area limited by national borders or whether is it more realistic to think of it in terms of local and/or transnational cultural regions.