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Art Museum Attendance, Public Funding, and the Business Cycle

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  • Sarah J. Skinner
  • Robert B. Ekelund, Jr.
  • John D. Jackson

Abstract

There are a number of important problems in contemporary museum finance, and this article identifies yet another possible difficulty. An aggregate statistical measure of museum attendance is calculated in this research and the attendance measure is shown to be countercyclical in nature. When set against federal and other allocations to museums, which are clearly pro‐cyclical in nature, an attendance “disease” may be at least tentatively identified. Efficiency criteria, of course, require that costs are covered in real time. We find, however, that, despite the likelihood that museum attendance is income‐elastic and a normal good, attendance varies countercyclically with the business cycle. We suggest that one possible explanation for this phenomenon is that a positive substitution effect on demand outweighs the income effect on demand for museum attendance over the cycle. From a policymaking perspective, these results call for a longer range planning horizon, that is, one that includes the full business cycle rather than just the financial year, as is the current U.S. government practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah J. Skinner & Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. & John D. Jackson, 2009. "Art Museum Attendance, Public Funding, and the Business Cycle," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 491-516, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:68:y:2009:i:2:p:491-516
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00631.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Heilbrun,James & Gray,Charles M., 2001. "The Economics of Art and Culture," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521637121.
    2. Faye Steiner, 1997. "Optimal Pricing of Museum Admission," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 21(4), pages 307-333, December.
    3. J. Schuster, 1999. "The Other Side of the Subsidized Muse: Indirect Aid Revisited," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 23(1), pages 51-70, March.
    4. Francesca Borgonovi & Michael O'Hare, 2004. "The Impact of the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States: Institutional and Sectoral Effects on Private Funding," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 28(1), pages 21-36, February.
    5. David Maddison, 2004. "Causality and Museum Subsidies," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 28(2), pages 89-108, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Douglas M. Walker, 2013. "Casinonomics," Management for Professionals, Springer, edition 127, number 978-1-4614-7123-3, December.
    2. David Yermack, 2017. "Donor governance and financial management in prominent US art museums," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(3), pages 215-235, August.
    3. Ennio E. Piano & Rania Al-Bawwab, 2023. "The artist as entrepreneur," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 23-41, March.
    4. David Yermack, 2015. "Donor Governance and Financial Management in Prominent U.S. Art Museums," NBER Working Papers 21066, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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