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An Artistic Production Function: Theory and an Application to Australian Visual Artists

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Abstract

This paper proposes a production function for artistic output in which quantity and quality of output are specified as joint products from the inputs of labour and capital provided by individual artists. A model is constructed specifying the quantity of creative and commercial output and the quality of creative output as a function of inputs of labour time and of physical and human capital. Included in the latter is a variable to account for the contribution of creative talent to an artist's human capital. The model is estimated for a sample of practising professional visual artists and craftspeople in Australia. The results suggest that a model along the lines indicated may be taken as a plausible representation of the artistic production process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    David Throsby

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  1. David Throsby
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Correspondence to David Throsby.

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Throsby, D. An Artistic Production Function: Theory and an Application to Australian Visual Artists. J Cult Econ 30, 1–14 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-005-9001-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-005-9001-4

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