The Economics of Aesthetics and Three Centuries of Art Price Records

William Goetzmann, Elena Mamonova and Christophe Spaenjers

No 20440, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Aggregate art price patterns mask a lot of underlying variation--both in the time series and in the cross- section. We argue that, to increase our understanding of the market for aesthetics, it is helpful to take a micro perspective on the formation of art prices, and acknowledge that each artwork gives rise to a market for trading in its private-value benefits. We discuss relevant recent literature, and illustrate the potential of this approach through a historical study of art price records between 1701 and 2014. Our newly constructed series also points to the importance of developments in the industrial organization of the art market for long-term price trends.

JEL-codes: D01 D44 G01 N00 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul and nep-his
Note: AP EFG
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Published as Christophe Spaenjers, William N. Goetzmann, Elena Mamonova, The economics of aesthetics and record prices for art since 1701, Explorations in Economic History, Volume 57, 2015, Pages 79-94, ISSN 0014-4983, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2015.03.003.

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Working Paper: The Economics of Aesthetics and Three Centuries of Art Price Records (2014)
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