When to sell your idea
Subtitle: theory and evidence from the movie industry
By: Hong Luo
Contributors: Harvard Business School
Edition: Revised edition
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 12-039; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 12-039
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 35
Description: How completely should an innovator develop his idea before selling it? In the context of selling original movie ideas, I present a model that features the writer's private information on the idea's value, different protection levels associated with different development stages, as well as costly buyer participation. The empirical results are consistent with the model's predictions: Inexperienced writers are excluded from the market for earlier-stage ideas, restricting their choices to developing the idea fully or abandoning it; writers who have a choice sell better ideas at a later stage and worse ideas at an earlier stage; and lastly, intermediaries facilitate earlier-stage sales for inexperienced writers.
Notes: "November 2011. (Revised March 2013)" -- Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 26-29).