Live Music in the Time of Corona: On the Resilience and Impact of a Philharmonic Orchestra on the Urban Economy

Johannes Glückler () and Robert Panitz
Additional contact information
Johannes Glückler: Economic Geography Group, Institute of Geography, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Robert Panitz: Economic Geography Group, Institute of Geography, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments enforced epidemic policies of social distancing, restrictions of professional practice, and the prohibition of cultural live performances. Because such policies dried up important sources of income in the cultural and tourism industries, this paper examines how cultural institutions coped with this crisis. Drawing on the case of the Mannheim Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, we collected original data and employed a regional economic impact analysis to determine both the financial resilience of the Orchestra and its impact on the urban economy. Because the Orchestra could not reduce costs during the COVID-19 pandemic, public subsidies were crucial to fill the income gap of missed live concerts. In turn, the regional impact analysis suggests that the Orchestra maintained its positive effect on the economic demand for goods and services in the urban economy. When balancing the city’s subsidies with the rental (city concert halls) and tax incomes generated by the Orchestra’s local impact, the Orchestra managed to induce surplus revenue for the city’s treasury.

Keywords: creative industries; cultural industries; philharmonic orchestra; regional economic impact; urban economy; economic geography; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3611/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3611/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:3611-:d:1070032

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().