nep-cul New Economics Papers
on Cultural Economics
Issue of 2008‒05‒24
two papers chosen by
Roberto Zanola
University of the Piemonte Orientale

  1. The Budgeting of Portuguese Public Museums: a dynamic panel data analysis By João Coelho; Carlos Santos
  2. Material culture in Sixteenth Century Venice: a sample from probate inventories, 1510–1615 By Isabella Cecchini

  1. By: João Coelho (Faculdade de Economia e Gestão - Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Porto)); Carlos Santos (Faculdade de Economia e Gestão - Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Porto))
    Abstract: In this paper, the first panel on sources of funding for Portuguese publicly owned museums is explored. There has been little work in this field worldwide, and none for Portugal. Evidence in this paper seems contrary to that relating to the UK and to the US. We find that incremental budgeting still plays a major role on the funding of Portuguese museums, allowing for inefficient management and moral hazard: the interests of museums’ management may diverge clearly from those of the authorities ruling them and from those of the general public. We also find that the ability to generate their own revenues plays no role in the funding allocated to museums every year. Budgeting is mainly determined by past operating costs. Policy changes seem to be advisable. The scarce relevance of museum patronage by the private sector makes a discussion of possible crowding out effects irrelevant in the current Portuguese context.
    Keywords: museums; incremental budgeting; moral hazard; dynamic panel data;
    JEL: Z11 Z19 D73 C33
    Date: 2008–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cap:wpaper:032008&r=cul
  2. By: Isabella Cecchini (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari)
    Abstract: This paper presents a panel of data about material culture in early modern Venice. The data are taken from three samples of Venetian probate inventories drawn up voluntarily from Venetian widows in the years 1510–1615, at intervals of roughly fifty years. The entire period has been divided into two subgroups of three years each (1511–1513, 1560–1562), and one of six years (1610–1615). The selection of goods tries to reflect the variety of objects appearing in written lists of Venetian interiors (pieces of furniture, paintings, musical instruments, tableware, cloths), though it aims to present a view of domestic interiors in early modern Venice that pays special regard to less essential goods.
    Keywords: Material culture, Venice, early-modern economic history, consumption, social orders, dowry legislation, probate inventories
    JEL: D12 D31 N33 R21 Y20
    Date: 2008
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2008_14&r=cul

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