Visual Artist Price Heterogeneity

Abstract

This paper proposes an empirical analysis to establish the determinants of Artist Price Heterogeneity (APH), using a unique dataset, which comprises all artwork sales occurred in Italy between 2006 and 2010. APH is measured by Gini indices calculated on artist price distributions. A Beta Regression Model (BRM) is estimated to account for the characteristic of the dependent variable, which can only assume values in the standard unit interval. Our analysis shows that APH is influenced by number of trades, average price, artist specialization, descent, fame, production, market structure and nationality, and artistic period.

Keywords: cultural economics, beta regression model, price heterogeneity

JEL Classification: Z11, C25