|
on Cultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2021‒01‒04
three papers chosen by Roberto Zanola Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Martina Dattilo (CREM-CNRS, University of Rennes 1); Fabio Padovano (CREM-CNRS, Condorcet Center for Political Economy, University of Rennes 1 and DSP, Università Roma Tre, Italy); Yvon Rocaboy (CREM-CNRS, Condorcet Center for Political Economy, University of Rennes 1) |
| Abstract: | Some public choice and cultural economics scholars have argued that Europe is over-represented in the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL), because of a superior ability to impose aesthetic standards that drive the choice of sites candidate to the WHL. We address this issue by examining the perceived quality of sites in countries where these can be either indigenous or European-like (colonial). The quality of sites is computed both as the sum of criteria of Outstanding Universal Value and by a textual analysis of the reports of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). These evaluations are mainly driven by aesthetic standards as they are made at a stage preceding the lobbying process for inclusion of the sites in the WHL. The estimates point out that neither differences in quality, nor in the probability of inscription, exist between colonial and native sites, suggesting that ICOMOS experts are impartial. |
| Keywords: | UNESCO World Heritage List, international organizations, measurement of quality, cultural capital, colonization |
| JEL: | H87 D72 F53 O19 Z11 L15 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cccrwp:2020-04-ccr&r=all |
| By: | Martina Dattilo (CREM-CNRS, University of Rennes 1); Fabio Padovano (CREM-CNRS, Condorcet Center for Political Economy, University of Rennes 1 and DSP, Università Roma Tre, Italy); Yvon Rocaboy (CREM-CNRS, Condorcet Center for Political Economy, University of Rennes 1) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically analyzes the evolution of the quality of sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) from 1972 till 2016, testing the hypothesis that as the number of sites of a country in the WHL increases, their marginal quality decreases. The quality of a site is proxied by the number of criteria set by UNESCO that the site has been recognize to satisfy. Data lend support to this hypothesis, suggesting that, since the stock of cultural capital is fixed over time, countries propose sites of decreasing quality. The efficiency of a country’s bureaucracy appears to play a role in the inclusion of a site into the list. These results are robust to variations in the nature of the sites (cultural or natural), to tests of the stability of the UNESCO evaluation criteria and to changes of the econometric estimators. The analysis questions the credibility of the UNESCO WHL as well as UNESCO policies aimed at having more balanced geographical distribution of sites. |
| Keywords: | UNESCO World Heritage List, international organizations, measurement of quality, efficiency of public administration, cultural capital |
| JEL: | H87 D72 F53 O19 Z11 L15 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cccrwp:2020-01-ccr&r=all |
| By: | KONSTANTINA NTAKOLIA (ATHENS SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS) |
| Abstract: | The defeat of Greeks in the short, in terms of duration, war that broke out in 1897 against the Turks, constituted the motive for researching the way that the Greek and foreign artists chose to illustrate this unpleasant outcome of war, since so far, a concertation of the images of that war has not been conducted. Through the study of c.150 drawings, oil paintings and folk images a first attempt is realized to approach and interpret the way that the ?infelicitous? war of 1897 was presented and illustrated, mainly in the national and international Press of that time, where the documentary painting meets Ernst Gombrich?s principle of the ?eyewitness?.Although the 1897 war lasted approximately only a month the artistic production was immense. Hundreds of correspondents managed to reach the front to execute drawings of the battles that took place in the Thessalian and Epirus front. These fast drawings were sent back home, and they were published in the newspapers of the time (Acropolis, Empros, Pinakothiki, Script, Gli Avvenimenti d? Oriente, L? Illustratión, Le Monde Illustré, La Tribuna Illustrata della Domenica, Le Petit Journal Supplément ?llustré, Le Petit Parisien, The Daily Graphic, The Illustrated London News etc.) creating a ?point of view? of that war. To this end, a second wave of Philhellenism was arisen, motivating the Philhellenes around the world to join once again the Greeks in the battle, e.g., the Italians Garibaldini fought and died heroically in Thessaly. Last, special reference is made to the works of Demetrios Galanis (1879-1966) and Georgios Roilos (1867-1928). The aforementioned painters were present at the front and had the opportunity to draw the incidents. Although both artists are well known (Galanis lived and work in Paris with the avant-garde while Roilos was a prestigious professor in School of Fine Arts-Athens), this facet of their work remains undiscovered. Therefore, in this study, Galanis? drawings of the front are presented for the first time, while a new approach to Roilos? paintings is attempted. Based on the analysis and study of the images of the war, we present our conclusions on the depiction of the 1897 Greek-Turkish war: Realism and Naturalism are alternate, while the soldiers are portrayed mainly as ordinary people fighting, suffering and dying for their homeland. Perhaps the foreigners, influenced by these pictures, felt sympathy for the Greek troops and reached for help regardless the continuous recessions. It was a matter of representation of the defeat. |
| Keywords: | 1897 Greek-Turkish war, 19th century Press, correspondents, documentary painting, Philhellenes, Philhellenism, Garibaldini, Galanis, Roilos |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iahpro:12212956&r=all |