Determinants of borrowing demand from Norwegian local public libraries

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to explore the determinants of book borrowing demand from local public libraries in Norway, using balanced panel data for the period 2001–2004. The more striking results of these calculations show the basic differences between children and adults in the effects of main borrowing determinants. While income is quite important and the shadow price is quite unimportant for children, the opposite is true for adults. A likely explanation of this finding is that the real shadow price is higher for adults and that it is also higher in communities with high income levels. It was found that both stock and growth of the stock are important factors for book loans as well as loans of other media. There is a basic difference, however, in the effect of books on the demand for other media as compared with the opposite cross-effect: The book stock has a substantial and significantly negative impact on the demand for other media. The face value of this finding implies that there is actually a crowding-out effect on other media from books, while it is usually expected to be the other way around.