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Morality and Economics: Public Assessments of the Adult Entertainment Industry

Brown University, Darrell_West{at}brown.edu

Marion Orr

Brown University

In this article, the authors examine citizen attitudes toward the adult entertainment industry. Using the results of a public opinion survey of a northeastern American city, the authors find that morality is more important than economics in attitudes about adult entertainment. The authors look at assessments regarding the number of adult entertainment clubs, the overall regulatory environment, and specific policy remedies for dealing with the industry (police raids, higher taxes, tighter zoning, or clustering establishments). On nearly every one of these factors, religion and morality are more important to people's attitudes than their views about the economic contributions of the industry. These results have important implications for theories emphasizing the economic basis of public policy making.

Key Words: adult entertainment • politics and morality • economics • public opinion

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Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4, 315-324 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0891242407304168


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by West, D. M. Articles by Orr, M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?