Abstract
This paper analyses the performance of an investment in sculpture during theperiod 1987–1995 by applying the hedonic price technique with time dummyvariables to a sample of over 27,000 sales at auctions. The main finding isthat the adjacent year price index differs substantially between theinexpensive/middle portfolio and the expensive portfolio. The first showsthe existence of a boom period until 1990, followed by a non boom period. Bycontrast, the return of an investment in the expensive portfolio performedsomewhat better during the period analysed, with the only fall in the priceindex in 1990 and 1991.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnello, R.J. and Pierce, P.R.K. (1996) “Financial Returns, Price Determinants, and Genre Effects in American Art Investment”. Journal of Cultural Economics 20(4): 359–383.
Agnello, R.J. and Pierce, P.R.K. (1998) Disaggregated Returns and Risk in Art Purchases. The Case of American Paintings Sold at Auction from 1971–1996. University of Delaware, mimeo. Anderson, R.C. (1974) “Paintings as an Investment”. Economic Inquiry 12: 13–26.
Baumol, W.J. (1986) “Unnatural Value: Or Art Investment as Floating Crap Game”. American Economic Review 76: 10–14.
Berndt, E.R., Griliches, Z., and Rappaport, N.J. (1995) “Econometric Estimates of Price Indexes for Personal Computers in the 1990's”. Journal of Econometrics 68: 243–268.
Buelens, N. and Ginsburgh, V. (1993) “Revisiting Baumol's ‘Art Floating Crap Game’ ”. European Economic Review 37: 1351–1371.
Burton, B.J. and Jacobsen, J.P. (2001) “The Rate of Return on Investment in Wine”. Economic Inquiry 39(3): 337–350.
Candela, G. and Scorcu, E. (1995) Il prezzo dei dipinti. Clueb, Bologna.
Candela, G. and Scorcu, E. (1997) “A Price Index for Art Market Auctions. An Application to the Italian Market of Modern and Contemporary Oil Paintings”. Journal of Cultural Economics 21(3): 175–196.
Chanel, O. (1995) “Is the Art Market Behaviour Predictable?” European Economic Review 39: 519–527.
Chanel, O., Gérard-Varet, A.L., and Ginsburgh, V. (1996) “The Relevance of Hedonic Price Indices”. Journal of Cultural Economics 20: 1–24.
Combris, P., Lecocq, S., and Visser, M. (1997) “Estimation of a Hedonic Price Equation for Bordeaux Wine: Does Quality Matter?” Economic Journal 107: 390–402.
Czujack, C. (1997) “Picasso Paintings at Auction (1963–1994)”. Journal of Cultural Economics 213: 229–247.
de la Barre, M., Doccio, S., and Ginsburgh, V. (1994) “Returns on Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary European Paintings, 1962-1991”. Annales d'Economie et Statistique 35: 143–181.
Frey, B.S. and Pommerehene, W.W. (1989) Muses and Markets; Explorations in the Economics of the Arts. Oxford, Basil Blackwell.
Frey, B.S. and Eichenberger, R. (1995) “On the Rate of Return in the Art Market: Survey and Evaluation”. European Economic Review 39: 528–537.
Ginsburgh, V. and Jeanfils, P. (1995) “Long-term Comovements in International Markets for Paintings”. European Economic Review 39: 538–548.
Ginsburgh, V. and Penders, A.F. (1997) “Land Artists and Art Markets”. Journal of Cultural Economics 21(3): 219–228.
Goetzmann, W.N. (1993) “Accounting For Taste: Art and the Financial Markets Over Three Centuries”.American Economic Review 83(5): 1370–1376.
Gordon, R. (1990) The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
Greene, W.H. (1997) Econometric Analysis, Third Edition. McMillan, New York.
Graeser (1993) “Rate of Return to Investment in American Antique Furniture”. Southern Economic Journal 59: 817–821.
Griliches, Z. (1990) “Hedonic Price Indexes and the Measurement of Capital and Productivity: Some Historical Reflections”, in E.R. Berndt and J.E. Triplett (eds.), Fifty Years of Economic Measurement. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Locatelli-Biey, M. and Zanola, R. (1999a) “Il mercato delle sculture in Italia: gli operatori e il loro ruolo”. Aedon 2.
Locatelli-Biey, M. and Zanola, R. (1999b) “The Market for Paintings: A Short-run Price Index”. Journal of Cultural Economics 23(3): 209–219.
Mossetto, G. and Lazzaro, E. (1996) Le Determinanti dei Prezzi delle Opere d'Arte, University of Venice, mimeo.
Nerlove, M. (1995) “Hedonic Price Functions and the Measurement of Preferences: The Case of Swedish Wine Consumers”. European Economic Review 39: 1697–1716.
Pesando, J. (1993) “Arts as an Investment: The Market for Modern Prints”.American Economics Review 83(5): 1075–1089.
Pompe, J. (1996) “An Investment Flash: The Rate of Return for Photographs”. Southern Economic Journal 63(2): 488–495.
Renneboog, L. and Houtte, T.V. (1998) The Monetary Appreciation of Paintings: From Realism to Magritte”. Tilburg University, mimeo.
Ross, M.H. and Zondervan, S. (1989) “Capital Gains and the Rate of Return on a Stradivarius”. Economic Inquiry 27: 529–540.
Stein, J.P. (1977) “The Monetary Appreciation of Paintings”. Journal of Political Economy 85: 1021–1035.
Triplett, J. (1990) “Hedonic Methods in Statistical Agency Environments: An Intellectual Biopsy”, in E.R. Berndt and J.E. Triplett (eds.), Fifty Years of Economic Measurement: The Jubilee Conference on Research in Income and Wealth. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
White, H. (1980) “A Heteroskedasticity-consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heretoskedasticity”. Econometrica 48: 817–838.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Locatelli-Biey, M., Zanola, R. The Sculpture Market: An Adjacent Year Regression Index. Journal of Cultural Economics 26, 65–78 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013309816736
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013309816736