Capitalizing on Stigma: Valuation Arbitrage in Norwegian Black Metal
研究市场中介如何通过“估值套利”策略，利用产品在污名化与非污名化条件下的估值差异获利，并以挪威黑金属产业为例，分析国际唱片公司如何将乐队的越轨行为重新诠释为真实性标志，从而推动市场整合。
Studies of destigmatization in markets typically feature targeted actors and audiences. This paper changes the analytical perspective by exploring the role of market intermediaries. It highlights the practice of “valuation arbitrage”, employed by intermediaries to capitalize on differences between the valuation of a product in stigmatized and non-stigmatized conditions. This practice may reduce the exclusionary power of stigma by facilitating the integration of targeted actors into product or labor markets. We investigate valuation arbitrage in the context of Norwegian black metal: a heavy metal genre that became notorious in the mid-1990s for its involvement in criminal activities. The analysis is abductive in nature, as exploration of qualitative data allows to identify a pattern and formulate an expectation that is then tested with quantitative data. An event history analysis of the hazard of a first record release attests to valuation arbitrage by international record labels that signed local bands to build up international demand, reinterpreting the transgressions as a sign of authenticity.