The economics of museums : a contemporary debate

Title: The economics of museums : a contemporary debate
Variant title:
  • Muzejní ekonomika : současný diskurz
Source document: Museologica Brunensia. 2021, vol. 10, iss. 2, pp. 2-11
Extent
2-11
  • ISSN
    1805-4722 (print)
    2464-5362 (online)
Type: Article
Language
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
This paper aims to show how the economics of museums can resolve the debates on the usefulness of museums, their financing, and the possibility of self-financing, which came up after the economic and social crisis following World War II, when museums were described as elitist institutions. Museums have evolved, responding with flexibility and adaptation to historical events, but this has not been easy. The seminal 1974 article by Peacock and Godfrey, which, in the opinion of specialists, initiated an economic approach with regard to museums, was studied in detail. Further, a selective literature review was conducted for the analysis of the historical development of the concept of museums, as well as subsequent studies that have enriched the unfinished debate on the financing and production aspects of these institutions. The possibility of being financed with public budget allocations and donations, as well as maintaining balanced finances with admission fees, allowed museums to develop and improve their services. Today, museums are growing institutions that fulfill their function in society and are open to all audiences.
Příspěvek pojednává o tom, jakým způsobem může muzejní ekonomika přispět k řešení otázek ohledně užitečnosti muzeí, jejich dotování a možného samofinancování. Tyto problémy se dostaly do popředí v průběhu ekonomické a společenské krize po druhé světové válce, kdy byla muzea považována za elitářské instituce. Muzea se neustále vyvíjí a snaží se flexibilně reagovat a adaptovat se na dějinné události. Není to však jednoduchý proces. Základem předmětného výzkumu bylo detailní prostudování článku Peacocka a Godfreye z roku 1974, jenž podle názoru odborníků dodal klíčový impuls k vnímání problematiky muzeí z ekonomického hlediska. Následné studium vybrané literatury poskytlo východiska pro analýzu historického vývoje koncepce muzejnictví a přispělo k obohacení probíhající diskuse o finančních a produkčních aspektech muzejních institucí. Díky možnosti financování z veřejného rozpočtu a sponzorských darů a také udržování finanční rovnováhy pomocí vstupného se muzea mohla dál rozvíjet a zlepšovat svoje služby. V současnosti představují muzea progresivní instituce, které plní svou nezastupitelnou úlohu ve společnosti a jsou přístupné všem.
References
[1] ALONSO, Luis Alonzo. Museología. Introducción a la teoría y práctica del museo. Madrid: Ediciones Istmo. S.A., 1993. ISBN 10: 8470902784; ISBN 13: 9788470902789.

[2] ANDERSON, Roberth. Is Charging Economic? Journal of Cultural Economics, 1998, vol. 22, issue 2–3, pp. 179–187. Available from www: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/A:1007514220825.

[3] ANGELINI, Francesco and Massimiliano CASTELLANI. Cultural and economic value: a critical review. Journal of Cultural Economics, 2019, vol. 43, issue 2, pp. 173–188. Available from www: http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-018-9334-4.

[4] AREZO, Fernanda and Verónica PEREYRA. Museos y ciudadanos: el comportamiento del consumidor. In ASUAGA, Carolina (ed.). La Cultura en Uruguay: Una Miranda Desde las Ciencias Económicas. Montevideo: Fundación de Cultura Universitaria, 2011, pp. 7–23. ISBN 978-9974-0826-1. Available from www: https://philarchive.org/archive/ASULCE.

[5] ASHWORTH, John and Peter JOHNSON. Sources of value for money for museum visitors: Some survey evidence. Journal of Cultural Economics, 1996, vol. 20, issue 1, pp. 67–83. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/BF00148271. | DOI 10.1007/s10824-005-7083-7

[6] ASUAGA, Carolina and Pau RAUSELL. Gestión de organizaciones culturales: el caso específico de los museos. Revista Iberoamericana de Contabilidad de Gestión [online], 2006, vol. 4, no. 8, pp. 83–104 [accessed 2021-06-20]. Available from www: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/13756/.

[7] BAILEY, Stephen J. and Peter FALCONER. Charging for Admission to Museums and Galleries: A Framework for Analysing the Impact on Access. Journal of Cultural Economics, 1998, vol. 22, issue 2–3, pp. 167–177. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1023/A:1007506019008. | DOI 10.1023/A:1007506019008

[8] BARRIO-TELLADO, María José del and Luis César HERRERO-PRIETO. Modelling museum efficiency in producing interreliant outputs. Journal of Cultural Economics, 2019, vol. 43, issue 3, pp. 485–512. Available from www: https://10.1007/s10824-019-09347-2.

[9] BENEDIKTSSON, Guðbrandur. Museums and tourism stakeholders, resource and sustainable development. Göteborg, 2004. Master's Dissertation. Museion/Göteborg University, International Museum Studies. Supervisor: Cajsa Lagerkvist. Available from www: https://www.ipd.gu.se/digitalAssets/1176/1176849_Dissertation_Gudbrandur_Benediktsson.pdf.

[10] BERTACCHINI, Enrico E., Chiara DALLE NOGARE and Raffaele SCUDERI. Ownership, organization structure and public service provision: the case of museums. Journal of cultural Economics, 2018, vol. 42, issue 4, pp. 619–643. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-018-9321-9. | DOI 10.1007/s10824-018-9321-9

[11] CALVO SERRALLER, Francisco. El museo Alejandrino. Revista de Occidente, 1996, no. 177, pp. 11–21. ISSN 0034-8635.

[12] CELLINI, Roberto and Tiziana Maria CUCCIA. How free admittance affects visits to museums. Conferencia Internacional de Economía de la Cultura in Valladolid. ACEI, 2016.

[13] DARNELL, Adrian C. Some Simple Analytics of Access and Revenue Targets. Journal of Cultural Economics, 1998, vol. 22, issue 2–3, pp. 189–196. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1023/A:1007558003078. | DOI 10.1023/A:1007558003078

[14] DESVALLÉES, André and François MAIRESSE. Conceptos claves de museología. Paris: Armand Colin – ICOM, 2010. ISBN 978-2-200-25399-8.

[15] DI GAETANO, Luigi and Isidoro MAZZA. "Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow" on the implications of deaccess policies for donations to museums. Journal of Cultural Economic, 2017, vol. 41, issue 3, pp. 237–258. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-015-9262-5. | DOI 10.1007/s10824-015-9262-5

[16] DICKENSON, Victoria. Museum Visitor Surveys: An Overview, 1930–1990. In TOWSE, Ruth and Abdul KHAKEE (eds.). Cultural Economics: The Arts, The Heritage and the Media Industries. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 1992, pp. 141–150. ISBN 978-3-642-77328-0. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/978-3-642-77328-0_15.

[17] FELDSTEIN, Martin. The Economics of Art Museums. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0226240732. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.7208/chicago/9780226241777.001.0001

[18] FERNÁNDEZ-BLANCO, Víctor and Juan PRIETO-RODRÍGUEZ. Análisis económico de los museos con una aplicación al estudio de sus visitantes en España. Revista Asturiana de Economía, 2004, no. 29, pp. 33–59. ISSN 1134-8291.

[19] FERNÁNDEZ-BLANCO, Víctor and Juan PRIETO-RODRÍGUEZ. Museums. In TOWSE, Ruth (ed.). A Handbook of Cultural Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2011, pp. 290–296. ISBN 978-1-84844-887-2.

[20] FERNÁNDEZ-BLANCO, Víctor, Luis César HERRERO PRIETO and Juan PRIETORODRÍGUEZ. Performance of cultural heritage institutions. In RIZZO, Ilde and Anna MIGNOSA (eds.). Handbook on economics of cultural heritage. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2013, pp. 470–490. ISBN 9780857930996. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.4337/9780857931009.00038

[21] FREY, Bruno S. and Stephan MEIER. Museums between private and public: the case of the Beyeler Museum in Basile. Working Paper no. 116. Zurich: University of Zurich, 2002. ISSN 1424-0459. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.2139/ssrn.316698

[22] FREY, Bruno S. and Stephan MEIER. The Economics of Museums. In GINSBURGH, Viktor A. and David THROSBY (eds.). Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture. Volume 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier North Holland, 2006, pp. 1017–1047. ISBN 9780444537768.

[23] FREY, Bruno S. and Lasse STEINER. Pay as you go: a new proposal for museum pricing. Museum Management and Curatorship, 2012, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 223–235. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1080/09647775.2012.701994. | DOI 10.1080/09647775.2012.701994

[24] GARCÍA SERRANO, Federico. El museo Imaginado. In GARCÍA SERRANO, Frederico (ed.). Una mirada atrás [online]. Madrid, 2000, pp. 39–62 [accessed 2021-06-20]. Available from www: http://www.t.museoimaginado.com/TEXTOS/Museo.pdf.

[25] GILABERT GONZÁLEZ, Luz María. Experiencia intergeneracional en los museos: el papel de las personas mayores. Pensamiento y Acción Interdisciplinaria [online], Maule: Universidad Católica del Maule, 2017, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 55–83. ISSN 0719-8078 [accessed 2021-06-20]. Available from www: http://revistapai.ucm.cl/article/view/170.

[26] GÓMEZ-ZAPATA, Jonathan Daniel, Nora Elena ESPINAL-MONSALVE and Luis César HERRERO-PRIETO. Economic valuation of museums as public club goods: Why build loyalty in cultural heritage consumption? Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2018, vol. 30, issue 1, pp. 190–198. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1016/j.culher.2017.09.010. | DOI 10.1016/j.culher.2017.09.010

[27] GÓMEZ TUSELL, Javier. Introducción. In GÓMEZ TUSSEL, Javier (ed.). Los museos y la conservación del patrimonio: Encuentros sobre patrimonio. Madrid, España: Fundación Argentaria, 2001, pp. 9–13. ISBN 84-7774-931-0.

[28] GOUDRIAAN, R. and G. VAN'T EIND. To Fee or Not to Fee: Some Effects of Introducing Admission Fees in Four Museums in Rotterdam. In OWEN, Virginia Lee and William S. HENDON (eds.). Managerial Economics for the Arts, Akron: Association for Cultural Economics, 1985.

[29] GRAMPP, W. D. and P. MENGER. A Colloquy about Art Museums: Economics Engages Museology. In GINSBURGH, Victor and Pierre-Michel MENGER (eds.). Economics of Arts: Selected Essays. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1996, pp. 221–254. ISBN 9780444824028.

[30] GRIMBERG, Carl. El alba de la civilización. Madrid: Ediciones Daimon, 1972.

[31] HERNÁNDEZ, Francisca. Manual de Museología. Madrid: Síntesis, 1994.

[32] JACKSON, Ray. A museum cost function. Journal of Cultural Economics, 1988, vol. 12, issue 1, pp. 41–50. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/BF00220045.

[33] JOHNSON, Peters. Los Museos. In TOWSE, Ruth (ed.). Manual de economia de la cultura. Madrid: Fundación Autor/Iberautor S.R.L, 2003, pp. 541–551. ISBN 84-8048-640-6.

[34] LUKSETICH, William A. and Mark D. PARTRIDGE. Demand functions for museum services. Applied Economics, 1997, vol. 29, no. 12, pp. 1553–1559. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1080/00036849700000031. | DOI 10.1080/00036849700000031

[35] MORÁN, J. M. El concepto de Museo. La función del museo en las diferentes épocas, hasta los años 40 del siglo XX. In Museo y Sociedad, 1987, pp. 19–68. Madrid: La Muralla S.A.

[36] O'HAGAN, John W. National museums: To charge o not to charge? Journal of Cutural Economics, 1995, vol. 19, issue 1, pp. 33–47. Available from www: https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/stable/41810531.

[37] PEACOCK, Alan and Christine GODFREY. The Economics of Museums and Galleries. In TOWSE, Ruth (ed.). Cultural Economics: The arts, The Heritage and the Media Industries. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, [1974] 1997, pp. 364–375. ISBN-10: 1858983835; ISBN-13: 978-1858983837.

[38] POZO SÁNCHEZ, Rocío del and Laura FERNÁNDEZ. Una red de museos en las redes sociales: Nuestros Museos. Boletín del Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, 2021, vol. 102, pp. 204–205. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.33349/2021.102.4818.

[39] PRIETO-RODRÍGUEZ, Juan and Víctor FERNÁNDEZ-BLANCO. Optimal pricing and grant policies for museums. Journal of Cultural Economics, 2006, vol. 30, issue 3, pp. 169–181. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-006-9012-9. | DOI 10.1007/s10824-006-9012-9

[40] RIVIÈRE, Georges Henri. La Museología. Curso de museología, textos y testimonios. Madrid, España: Ediciones Akal, 1993. ISBN 10: 8446001713; ISBN 13: 9788446001713.

[41] RIZZO, Ilde and Ruth TOWSE. In memoriam Alan Peacock: a pioneer in cultural economics. Journal of Cultural Economics, 2015, vol. 39, issue 3, pp. 225–238. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-015-9244-7. | DOI 10.1007/s10824-015-9244-7

[42] ROBBINS, Lucas. Unsettled questions in the political economy of the arts. In TOWSE, Ruth (ed.). Cultural economics: the arts, the heritage and the media industries. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, [1971] 1997, pp. 347–363. ISBN-10: 1858983835; ISBN-13: 978-1858983837.

[43] ROBBINS, Lucas. El Arte y el Estado. In ROBBINS, L. (ed.). Política y Economía. México: Rabasa S.A., 1965, pp. 55–77.

[44] ROSETT, Richard N. Art Museums in the United States: A Financial Portrait. In FELDSTEIN, Martin (ed.). In the Economics of Art Museums. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991, pp. 129–178. ISBN 978-0226240732.

[45] SCHUBERT, Karsten. El Museo. Historia de una Idea. Granada: Turpiana, 2008. ISBN 978-84-612-0060-3.

[46] SEAMAN, Brece Alan. Economic impact of the arts. In TOWSE, Ruth (ed.). A Handbook of Cultural Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2011, pp. 201–210. ISBN 978 0 85793 103 0.

[47] TAALAS, Mervi. Costs of production. In TOWSE, Ruth (ed.). A Handbook of Cultural Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2011, pp. 113–119. ISBN 978 0 85793 103 0.

[48] TOWSE, Ruth. Alan Peacock and Cultural Economics. The Economic Journal, 2005, vol. 115, issue 504, pp. F262–F276. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2005.01005.x. | DOI 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2005.01005.x

[49] VARINE-BOHAN, Hugues de. El ecomuseo. Una palabra, dos conceptos, mil prácticas. Mus-A: Revista de los museos de Andalucía [online], 2007, no. 8, pp. 19–29. ISSN 1695-7229. [accessed 2021-06-20]. Available from www: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2545493.

[50] WALTL, Christian. Museums for visitor: Audience development – a crucial role for successful museum management strategies (Conference Paper). INTERCOM, 2006, pp. 1–7.

[51] WISNIEWSKA, Aleksandra, Wiktor BUDZIŃSKI and Mikołaj CZAJKOWSKI. An economic valuation of access to cultural institutions: museums, theatres, and cinemas. Journal of Cultural Economics, 2020, vol. 44, issue 4, pp. 563–587. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-020-09375-3. | DOI 10.1007/s10824-020-09375-3

[52] ZHANG, Fenghua and Pascal COURTY. The China museum visit boom: Government or demand driven? Journal of Cultural Economics, 2021. https://doi-org.ezproxy.muni.cz/10.1007/s10824-021-09410-x.

[53] ZUBIAUR, Francisco. Curso de museología. Madrid: Ediciones Trea, S. L., 2004. ISBN 84-9704-132-1.