ART as meta-credence: authentication and the role of experts

Robert Ekelund, Richard Higgins () and John D. Jackson ()
Additional contact information
Richard Higgins: Berkeley Research Group
John D. Jackson: Auburn University

Journal of Cultural Economics, 2020, vol. 44, issue 1, No 6, 155-171

Abstract: Abstract Authenticity is a perennial issue in art markets. This paper investigates the character of some art identifying it as meta-credence goods and utilizing a formal Bayesian model of how experts (or buyers) play a role in evaluating art works, as suggested in a recent paper by Ginsburgh et al. (J Econ Behav Organ 159:36–50, 2019). Experts or a consensus of experts determines credence status where present and future falsification (in the sense of Karl Popper) is impossible. Credence is always a matter of probabilistic degree, and we define a class of extreme credence goods called meta-credence. Consensus of expert opinion serves as verification in the art world where consensus substitutes for falsification. These opinions are relied on by buyers and the art-loving public. This paper outlines the process that the art expert undergoes to render a verdict on the authenticity of art.

Keywords: Credence goods; Art experts; Meta-credence; Art authentication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10824-019-09354-3

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