Christian Peukert

Christian Peukert
Academic background
Alma mater	LMU Munich
Thesis	(2014)
Doctoral advisor	Tobias Kretschmer Dietmar Harhoff
Academic work
Institutions	University of Lausanne (2020–present) ETH Zurich (2019–2020) Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics (2017–2020) University of Zurich (2014–2017) LMU Munich (2011–2014) University of Ulm (2009–2011)

Christian Peukert is an economist and academic, currently serving as Associate Professor of Digitization, Innovation and Intellectual Property at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. His research focuses on the digital economy, innovation, and information systems.

Controversial study on file sharing

In 2012, Peukert, then at LMU Munich, along with Danish researcher Jörg Claussen, conducted a controversial study on online piracy and movie sales. The study analyzed sales figures from 49 countries over five years and the revenue generated by 1,344 movies. Their findings suggested that the shutdown of Megaupload, a popular file-sharing site, may have led to a decline in sales for small-budget films rather than an increase in revenue as expected.

The study proposed that small-budget films might benefit from piracy due to word-of-mouth advertising. Peukert argued that people who use file-sharing sites could reach more potential paying customers, especially for films with lower advertising budgets.

However, the study faced criticism from the film industry. Christine Ehlers, spokeswoman for the Society for the Prosecution of Copyright Infringement (GVU), stated that current figures in Germany contradicted the theory. German film director Niki Stein, an advocate for copyright protection, also expressed skepticism about the study's findings.

Peukert maintained that the study was not supported by special interest groups, emphasizing that their main concern was "a proper scientific analysis that will be able to contribute to the current debate."

External links

• Christian Peukert's profile at the University of Lausanne