91814 - INTRODUZIONE ALL'ECONOMIA DELLA CULTURA

Learning outcomes

The course will take a wide-ranging perspective on the economics of arts and literature, and discuss the broader role of 'culture' in economics.

Cultural activities share some basic (yet, not exhaustive) characteristics. They all involve forms of creativity in their production. They focus on the creation of symbolic meaning. Their output usually includes forms of intellectual property.

The aim of the course is to provide the students with the fundamental tools to think critically and independently about the main economic aspects of cultural resources, including the structure of the markets, the determinants of supply and demand, the assessment of values and prices, and the tools for economic policy usually applied to the cultural sector.

Course contents

We will consider the role of creative processes in the organization of markets of goods and services. In particular, we will think about creativity as the result of a decision-making process, as well as the outcome of non-rational choices.

We will then introduce a framework of analysis of income flows in a market economy. We will apply this scheme in order to consider the macroeconomic role of sectors of production of cultural goods and services.

We will also consider the decision-making factors related to income flows that can influence business decisions from a microeconomic point of view. We shall consider the role of profit-maximizing companies in creative sectors.

We will study the organization of market value chains. To consider the specificities of companies operating in the cultural sectors, we will investigate answers to the following question: are cultural sectors different from the others?

We will discuss the determination of supply and demand in a market economy. We will propose a comparison between the economic sectors linked to cultural activities and those of a different nature. activities of another nature. On the supply side, we will introduce the difference between human capital, physical capital and cultural capital as factors of production in a market economy.

We will consider the economic implications arising from low productivity that characterize the activities in the performing-art sector. Hence, we shall discuss the the so-called cost disease of live performances originally identified by Baumol and Bowen.

We will define the main empirical features of the market for artworks. We shall consider the organization of the market. We will also discuss the role of informational asymmetry between economic agents, along with its implications for the pricing of traded artworks.

Readings/Bibliography

The study material for the course consists of the book manuscript written by the professor for the students of this degree course.

This material is available in a clearly marked section of the Virtual course pages. The manuscript is uploaded on Virtual as soon as the pages for the current academic year are available.

Consistently with the 'last news' section of the professor's webpages, the study material can also be downloaded from the following link:

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/paolo.zagaglia/useful-contents/11399585

Finally, the manuscript can also be requested from thee professor by email.

The final exam will require the study of all the chapters of the aforementioned manuscript.

Students will also have at their disposal a set of slides in which the topics presented in each lesson will be treated. This material will be uploaded on the course pages of the Virtuale platform.

Teaching methods

There will be a series of lectures organized over a short period of time. Student participation will be strongly encouraged as there will be a focus on interaction between the students and the teacher.

Assessment methods

Type of exam:

The book adopted from the 2019-2020 academic year presents concepts and analysis tools that can be applied - in a general way - in the economic analysis of specific cases. Therefore, unlike in previous years, during the exam you will be asked to solve a 'case study' in an 'open book' mode.

What does all this mean?

The teacher will present a hypothetical situation that has economic implications and that can occur in the cultural field. General questions will also be formulated.

Based on the conceptual tools presented in the book and on all the other relevant information sources, the student will discuss the possible answers to the questions.

In short, this is about combining your creativity with an understanding of the topics covered in the book. The knowledge acquired from studying the book will be used in the discussion and analysis of a general case.

Question 1: does this imply that you can avoid studying the book for the exam? No. While formulating the solution to the case study, the student should refer to the ideas, concepts, theories and other elements presented in the book.

Question 2: during the exam, can we also make reference to elements - concepts, theories, pictures, tables etc - not contained in the textbook? Yes: this an 'open book' exam. Obviously the teacher will build the case study starting from what is discussed in the book. Therefore, the use of additional elements present in other sources makes sense only if it is adequately motivated and explained.

An example of the text for the written exam:

The XY museum receives public contributions from MIBACT for the organization of art exhibitions. All the economic costs related to the museum's activity are covered by the contributions of MIBACT. The XY museum is located in a town where also the AB museum is located. The AB museum offers the XY museum the opportunity to organize art exhibitions jointly. The director of the XY museum decides to evaluate the opportunities that could emerge from this proposal.

What economic problems arise in the assessment that the XY director must make? What economic concepts can be applied in this case?

Under what economic hypotheses can the director of XY be led to decide in a negative sense regarding the possibility of organizing joint events with the AB museum?

Can information asymmetry play a relevant role in the choice problem? Why? In which way? Under what conditions?

Teacher's note in addition to the exam text example: it should be clear that fairly different types of answers can be equally acceptable. This means that it becomes important to explain the logical reasons on which the answers are built. For example, in formulating the answers, a student is free to introduce hypotheses of different nature. In this sense, it becomes imperative to specify and clearly explain which hypotheses are introduced. In our previous example, the following could be argued: IF the stock of artworks available to AB leads to a service offering that constitutes a substitute for what is offered by the XY museum, then XY may benefit from the organization of joint events. This statement would find logical ground only if it was accompanied by a clear motivation. For example, it could be argued that the integration of the activities of the two museums would lead to the elimination of market competition in the interest of both museum institutions.

Practical arrangements related to the exam sessions:

Students will have 3 hours to complete the exam paper, starting from the moment the exam text is received.

Additional considerations:

The students are allowed to use any source of information in carrying out the open-book exam

Students will be allowed to use a computer and to deliver the exam paper by way of a computer file. Graphs or tables from any source that are relevant for the formulation of the answers can be reported provided that reference is made to the source itself, and the sources are cited as clearly and as possible by indicating:

- author,

- title of publication,

- table or graph number if needed,

- number of papage of the publication containing the original text that is cited

There are no page limits for the exam paper. However, all the students should keep in mind that it is important to communicate one's ideas in an efficient way

For any other information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Evaluation criteria:

An exhaustive discussion of the case study together with a clear understanding of the topics of study, clearcut evidence of critical jdugement and logically-coherent thinking, along with the use of language appropriate to the disciplinary context will be evaluated with marks in the range of 27-30 with honors.

An exam paper that denotes an adequate ability to identify the relevant theoretical analysis tools, the use of language expressions appropriate to the disciplinary context and evidence of partially satisfactory logical skills will be assessed with a score within the range 21-26.

Evidence of a limited understanding of the analysis tools presented during the course, use of inadequate written expressions and logical skills will be assessed with a score in the range 18-20.

Lack of evidence of understanding of the study material combined with the use of inadequate expressions and logical skills will be assessed with insufficient marks.

Teaching tools

The teacher will make available to the students a set of slides. These will be tailored-made to the ongoing discussion and interaction developed during the lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Zagaglia