| By: |
Marilena Vecco (Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands);
Andrej Srakar (Institute for Economic Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia);
Michele Piazzai (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: |
Deaccessioning is a largely controversial practice involving the sale or
disposal of objects from a museum’s collection. Although it has received
increasing attention in the past few decades as a solution to museums’
financial concerns, its implications have rarely been researched in academia
which is mainly due to the ‘barely legal’ status of deaccessioning as a
management practice. Previous research suggests that visitors’ responses may
vary depending on some factors, such as the destination of income generated by
deaccessioning operations and the public’s perception of the museum
collection as a public good. We address this question by analysing visitors’
responses in Italian public museums. Specifically, we hypothesize that
stronger public cultural identity of the collection and the purpose of the
income generated by deaccessioning strongly affect the attitudes to
deaccessioning. Using structural equation modelling, we estimate several
important determinants of visitors’ responses. We also show that attitudes
to deaccessioning do not influence the decision to visit a museum. The
findings of the article have implications for museum governance and
particularly for the knowledge about deaccessioning in cultural economics and
museum management. |
| Keywords: |
public museums, deaccessioning, visitor attitudes, structural equation models, Italy |
| JEL: |
Z11 Z18 H40 D12 C36 C38 |
| Date: |
2016–02 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cue:wpaper:awp-02-2016&r=cul |