Abstract:
Traditional analytical frameworks used to study the book industry—mainly linear, firm-centered, and value-chain based—offer limited capacity to capture the relational, institutional dynamics that characterize publishing ecosystems. To address this gap, this article introduces the Book Industry Mesosystem Model (BIMM), a novel mesoeconomic and mesoanalytical framework that reconceptualizes the book industry as a mesosystem embedded in economic, institutional, and territorial structures. The model integrates five core concepts, six transversal dimensions, and twenty-five agent typologies, providing an architecture for examining complexity beyond firm or market boundaries. BIMM was developed through a 39-month multimethod design combining: 1) iterative conceptual refinement with experts and industry professionals (n = 29), 2) semi-structured interviews with experts and professionals (n = 43), and 3) application to two case studies focused on creation and production processes. This hybrid research pathway ensured conceptual rigor, empirical grounding, and transferability. The resulting model provides a framework for examining coordination mechanisms, institutional configurations, inter-agent dependencies, and transversal forces. Its empirical application reveals patterns of precarious work, concentration, technological dependency, and institutional mediation that remain under-represented in traditional approaches. BIMM expands theoretical and methodological horizons for research on cultural and creative industries, offering a foundation for comparative analyses and mixed-method operationalization.
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