An Economic Theory of Art History

Federico Etro ()

Working Papers - Economics from Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa

Abstract: We analyze the economic dynamics of art markets through workshops that transmit artistic tradition to apprentices and invest in innovations that shape art history. Initial innovations are more radical and associated with low prices and increasing profitability, but the subsequent evolution implies a gradual convergence toward a steady state with stable quality and prices. The equilibrium involves under-investment in creativity, a problem that can be solved through institutions setting payments for apprenticeship, such as art guilds. Heterogeneous talent can generate a highly skewed distribution of art prices with superstar effects. We analyze the role of principal-agent contracts between patrons and artists when quality is not verifiable, cost-saving innovations and mass production, price-setting artists and dealers, endogenous entry of artists and networks of interdependent artistic traditions.

Keywords: Art history; Artistic innovation; Art prices; Patron-artist contracts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-his and nep-mic
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