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The Social Value of Art

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Economics of Art and Culture

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Economics ((BRIEFSECONOMICS))

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Abstract

Most people engaged in culture favour impact studies, which measure the economic benefits produced by artistic projects. On that basis, many art expenditures seem to be economically beneficial. In contrast, art economists focus on measuring the social values produced. They include the external effects of artistic activities not taken into account by the market: existence, option, bequest, prestige, and education values. The two approaches consider different aspects of cultural management, and both must be taken into account.

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Related Literature

This chapter is partly based on

  • Frey BS (2005) What values should count in the arts? The tension between economic effects and cultural value. Working paper series/Institute for Empirical Research in Economics No. 253, University of Zurich

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Valuable discussions of impact and willingness-to-pay studies are

  • De la Torre M (ed) (2002) Assessing the values of cultural heritage: research report. Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles

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Journal of Cultural Economics (2003) “Contingent Valuation in Cultural Economics”. Special Issue: 27(3/4):155–315. In particular the articles by

  • Noonan DS (2003) Contingent valuation of cultural resources: a meta-analytic review of the literature. J Cult Econ 27(3/4):159–176

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  • Throsby D (2003) Determining the value of cultural goods: how much (or how little) does contingent valuation tell us? J Cult Econ 27(3/4):275–285

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Practical applications of willingness to pay and contingent valuation include, for example

  • Hansen TB (1997) The willingness-to-pay for the royal theatre in copenhagen as a public good. J Cult Econ 21(1):1–28

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  • Santagata W, Signorello G (2000) Contingent valuation of a cultural public good and policy design: the case of ‘Napoli Musei Aperti’. J Cult Econ 24(3):181–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Correspondence to Bruno S. Frey .

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Frey, B.S. (2019). The Social Value of Art. In: Economics of Art and Culture. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15748-7_2

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