Evidence on the Performance of Canada/Europe Co-productions in Television and Film

International co-production has become an increasingly important mode for television programs and film. In this paper we report the results of a survey on partner perceptions of performance in Canada/Europe co-productions. In particular we examine whether expectations that the general experience is positive and that Canadian and European partners have similar assessments of the level of performance, are justified. Our survey evidence does support the hypothesis that in total the experience is positive. However, it appears this is only the case because a good creative artistic performance more than outweighs a less than satisfactory total project recoupment. The hypothesis that Canadian and European partners have similar perceptions of performance is not borne out. Generally, Canadian partners seem more satisfied than European, particularly French.     

Survey of the Philosophic Discipline

The academy is widely reported to be going through a period of transformation: not just changes to what is taught, but threats to tenure and internal funding, perhaps balanced by new possibilities for external funding and interdisciplinary projects. This article discusses a recently conducted survey of US and Canadian Philosophy departments, in an effort to understand one discipline’s perspective on and reaction to these changes. The survey found that, for the majority of departments, Philosophy has largely not changed over the last decade in terms of shifts in subfields, tenure and tenure criteria, internal funding and external grant awards. However, a minority of departments are demonstrating potentially transformative possibilities, especially as related to interdisciplinarity.     

Canadian versus American Art: What Pays Off and Why

This study investigates the relationship between the market value of artand the nationality of the painter. A sample of modern and contemporaryCanadian and American paintings is analyzed using non-parametric testsand a hedonic regression model. The results show a significantrelationship between aesthetic painting characteristics, such as subjectmatter, and market valuation. In general, the price of Canadian art iswell below that of American art. Even after adjusting for paintingcharacteristics, Canadian paintings appear to be less expensive still.It is believed that Canadian painters looked at the Northern landscapeto define a national identity, thus playing to a limited audience, theonly that could relate to the beauty of the Canadian scenery. Thisprogrammatic approach could explain some of the aforementioneddifferences in market valuation.     

The crafts in the post-modern economy

Conclusions In the emerging Post-Modern Economy, traditional weaknesses of the Arts and Crafts are becoming strengths, strengths that promise a prosperous and productive 21st century for Canadian craftspersons and artists. Driven by a demographic revolution that has produced a population with rapidly rising levels of education, increasing participation of women and an aging demographic profile, the new economy will be one in which quality and design are critical factors in international economic competitiveness.     

Beyond Rock and Roll: The Economic Impact of the Grateful Dead on a Local Economy

For-profit popular music concerts, a seldom studied event, may create sizeable economic impacts in a local economy. Using information from a survey of more than 1,000 concert goers to a Grateful Dead performance in Las Vegas and RIMS II multipliers, we estimate income and employment impacts. We conclude that the potential large spill-overs effects of such an event should not be ignored. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Win, Place or Show: Gauging the Economic Success of the Renoir and Barnes Art Exhibits

Special art exhibits, sometimes known as``blockbusters', are often thought of as tourism andbusiness generators. This belief is fostered byeconomic impact studies that bravely estimate thetotal gross domestic product or total jobs ``created'by such exhibits. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of theexhibit promoters often leads them to the uncritical useof methodologies that exaggerate the size of theexhibit's contribution to the local economy. Fortunately, such methodologies are well understoodand corrective measures are available to make theestimates they produce more realistic and useful foradvocacy purposes. This paper presents a comparisonof two studies done in Canada to provide arts managerswith a gauge for realistically forecasting thepotential impact of planned ``blockbusters'.Several Canadian art galleries have recently hostedspecial art exhibits, notably the Renoir Portraits atthe National Gallery of Canada and the BarnesExhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. They havesurveyed the visitors to them using a correctivemethodology that enables researchers to determinewhich visitors came to the region only because of theexistence of the exhibit and which would have come tothe region and spent money whether the exhibit existedor not. These data enables researchers to estimatequite accurately the amount of visitor spending thatis actually due to the exhibit. This lower, but morecredible, estimate is very useful in helping promotersobtain exhibit sponsorship from local tourismbusinesses who have become skeptical of theexaggerated claims of economic impact estimates basedon standard survey approaches.     

Age–price profiles for Canadian painters at auction

We conduct an empirical analysis of the effect on the auction price of a Canadian painting of the age of the painter at the time of creation of the painting. We consider over two hundred artists, active over the entire history of Canadian art, who are pooled in the estimation of a hedonic regression in which a polynomial function in age enters as a regressor along with several other control variables. We consider the possibility that the age–price relationship has changed over time by: (a) estimating separate age–price functions for three generational groups of artists—those born before 1880, between 1880 and 1920, and after 1920 and thus coming of age in the world of post-war ‘contemporary art’ and (b) estimating a parameterization where the shape of the age–price profile is permitted to change continuously depending on the year of birth of the artist. Our principal result is that artists born more recently tend to ‘peak’ earlier in their careers than those of previous generations.     

Risk assessment: A comparative study of archive storage rooms

The goal of preventive conservation is to provide the correct maintenance of our cultural heritage in order to enrich our future. The Canadian Museum of Nature developed a risk model for preventive conservation that has proven useful in application to a Portuguese archive. This work applies this model to compare the magnitudes of specific risks estimated for this same archive collection when located in either of two pairs of storage rooms. These rooms are in two different parts of this building: two are in an older part and two are in a recent addition. It was, therefore, necessary to assess the building itself, both structurally and environmentally, as well as analyse its common human practices. In terms of the overall risk magnitude, the best room was found to be in the recent building and the worst in the older building. However, risks related to water problems were found to be higher in the new building. In this work cost-free measures and easy to implement recommendations are given in order to improve the quality of the storage rooms. A final comment on the method itself is also given.     

Canadian content rules for television: Misleading lessons for Europe

Summary Our recommendation is that Europe and the EC should proceed with caution before implementing extensive mandatory television content policies. In the foregoing, we have attempted to outline the reasons why we feel content policies have not worked in the past in Canada, and why they will face increasing difficulties wherever implemented. The reasons are administrative, technological and financial. In addition we are not convinced by the economic rationales for content policy. However we do recognize the right of governments to pursue cultural policies similar to those represented by content policies, and elsewhere we have proposed alternative courses of action for governments to consider.Aside from tracing the evolution of Canadian content policies, our research has examined government funding of films and programs, the use of coproduction treaties and coventures and evolving technological considerations.(22) At present we are examining managerial aspects of film making and television production and distribution in the current international environment.Carleton University     

Building typologies identification to support risk mitigation at the urban scale – Case study of the old city centre of Seixal,Portugal

The old urban centres are marks of an historical and architectural heritage that should be protected and safeguarded. For such, it is fundamental to have a complete understanding of the genesis, regarding both building and the urban mesh. This fact is essential to the support of qualified, conscientious and sustainable rehabilitation interventions on the old building stock. The research carried out addresses the issue of the old urban centres from the perspective of the analysis and inventory of buildings features. The cataloguing process of the building typologies is presented in this work as a synthesis of the principal construction forms, with the old city centre of Seixal being used as a case study. The identification of building typologies has supported a seismic and fire vulnerability assessment of the old building stock. The assessment methodologies developed and used are based on the detailed survey and building inspection, therefore the building typology cataloguing is essential in the analysis at such a large scale. Then we discussed the strategy for the conservation actions incorporated in a broader risk management policy.     

The Ethos of Science in Contemporary Poland

Modern science is moving away from Michael Polanyi’s vision of ‘the Republic of Science’ and gradually becoming subordinate to political and economic social institutions. This process is accompanied by changes in the normative structure of science. Poland provides an interesting case for empirical study of the scientific ethos mostly because in a relatively short time it experienced a significant reform of the science system, especially in terms of evaluating and financing scientific work. In this paper we examine whether different sets of values and norms are embedded into the normative structure of science in contemporary Poland. The results of a representative survey conducted among 801 researchers were examined with the use of confirmatory factor analysis and fuzzy clustering. The statistical analysis revealed a great complexity in the normative structure of science that goes beyond the expectations formulated on the basis of the theories reviewed. We identified three distinctive groups of researchers, guided by different sets of values and norms in their professional conduct (academic science, post-academic science and the industrial science) and a cluster of researchers with an unidentified system of principles. We argue that the complexity of the normative structure of science should be taken into account in the decision-making regarding any future reforms of the science system.

     

—对著名雕塑家李秀勤的访谈门罗与中国简

诺贝尔文学奖评委会的颁奖词将2013年诺贝尔文学奖得主、加拿大女作家爱丽丝·门罗称为“当代短篇小说大师”。 中外媒体以及读者,对这位“短篇女王”给予高度关注。从“莫言热”到“门罗热”,充分显示了文学的力量。诺贝尔文学奖犹如强劲的助推力,让越来越多的世界优秀文学作品进入公众视野,激发起人们对获得诺贝尔文学奖作家的关注与对中外优秀文学作品阅读的热情。     

Willingness to Pay for Domestic Television Programming

The article describes the application of contingent valuation to estimate the value of the benefits that the Australian community derives from the mandatory transmission of Australian programs by television stations. This application of contingent valuation to estimate cultural benefits offers an insight on the potential for a wider application of the methodology to evaluate cultural policy instruments. The study found that a majority of Australians support regulation of the domestic content of television programs and considers the value of the related benefits to be commensurate with the cost of supplying domestic programming.     

Factors that influence programming decisions of US symphony orchestras

Program decisions by symphony orchestra management are influenced by various factors. To examine these factors, we create an objective index of the propensity of a symphony orchestra to perform the standard repertoire. We use regression analysis to examine factors that influence programming decisions of 64 US symphony orchestras in 2006–2007, including public and private sources of funding. We find that increased funding from ticket sales, endowments, and local government increases the likelihood that an orchestra will perform nonstandard repertoire. In addition, the results suggest that a symphony orchestra’s music director does not have a significant impact on the degree of program conventionality.     

Sources of “value for money” for museum visitors: Some survey evidence

This paper provides an economic analysis of the survey responses of visitors who were asked to make a value for money (VFM) assessment of a museum visit. The paper first interprets the notion of VFM from an economic perspective, and distinguishes between evaluations made before and after a visit. It then analyses the survey responses of visitors to a major museum in the North of England, using appropriate statistical techniques to identify the economic determinants of VFM rankings by visitors. The final section discusses the implications of the methodology and results for museum management, and for the design of museum visitor surveys.The authors are grateful to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which financed the visitor survey on which this study is based, to staff at Beamish Museum who made the survey possible, and to their colleague, Dr Barry Thomas, who was co-director on the original project. Valuable comments have been received from colleagues at Durham and from two anonymous referees. The authors however alone responsible for any errors and omissions.     

Who is an artist? Heterogeneity and professionalism among visual artists

The purpose of this article was twofold. Firstly, to investigate the heterogeneity among artists as an occupational category and secondly, to define arts as a profession and thereby to make a distinction between professional artists and amateurs. Artists' income and working conditions have been the subject of several studies, and many different sampling criteria have been used. Scholars have not yet achieved consensus on who should be included in the profession. In this article, we make an innovative contribution to this conversation. By applying a finite mixture model, which combines latent profile and latent class analysis, we have been able to identify different segments of artists in terms of professionalism. Each of these mutually exclusive classes is characterized by a particular income and working situation. We also include a membership function, estimated through a logistic regression, which allows prediction of the probability that an individual will belong to each class, given his/her socioeconomic characteristics. The subject of our study is Danish visual artists. The dataset consists of a combination of register data from Statistics Denmark and data collected from a questionnaire survey with 892 respondents. Based on the artists’ civil registration numbers, the two sources have been merged into a unique dataset. Our finite mixture model shows the heterogeneity among artists. Combined with a theoretically definition of arts as a profession, our research propose a distinction between professional artists and amateurs that cuts across categories used in prior literature. The results can be beneficial to cultural policy.

     

The analysis of polychrome works of art: 40 years of infrared spectroscopic investigations

In this paper a synthetic chronological survey of analytical applications of infrared spectroscopy for the characterization of the materials of polychrome works of art and archaeology is outlined. Various sampling methods are described and some relevant examples, drawn from the published cases, are presented. The various methods prove to be very effective in characterizing both the inorganic and organic constituents of a wide variety of artworks, giving an insight into the materials and techniques of execution of the artifacts and, in the case of infrared mapping techniques, pinpointing the analytical data within a precise layer of the stratigraphy of the cross-sectioned samples. Overall, the great analytical potential and wide field of application of this technique is fully brought to light.     

Entrance Fees as a Subjective Barrier to Visiting Museums

In a 1995 representative survey, 1,080 Germans were asked by standardized questionnaire to assess the subjective significance of 23 motives and barriers to visiting art museums, history museums and technology museums on a scale from 1 (very unimportant motive/barrier) to 5 (very important motive/barrier). An analysis of the results of the survey revealed entrance fees to be the only significant subjective barrier. In contrast to recent price elasticity studies of cultural demand, this study uses a micro-level approach – comparing individual socioeconomic and geographic characteristics with individual and subjective assessments of museum entrance fees as a barrier. The results of an ordered-probit analysis suggest income to be the only significant individual characteristic which can explain this subjective assessment. However, using correspondence analysis, several other individual characteristics such as education and professional status also appear to have a relative impact on the subjective assessment of entrance fees.     

The Moral Rights of Artists: Droit Moral ou Droit Pécuniaire?

An artist's moral rights consist of the right to be identified as the creator of a work (Attribution), the right to decide when and whether to publish the work (Disclosure), the right to withdraw a work from circulation (Withdrawal), and the right to preserve the integrity of the work (Integrity). As there are two main schools of thought on the monetary aspects of copyright, so are there two schools on moral rights. Canada embodies two legal traditions, and so provides an interesting case study of moral rights legislation. The main interests for economists studying moral rights are (i) the extent to which moral rights should be tied to monetary rights, and (ii) the extent to which moral rights should be alienable.     

Situated Knowledge Production,International Impact: Changing Publishing Practices in a German Engineering Department

In this paper, I analyze how recent calls to internationalize publication behavior affect research practices at an automotive engineering department in Germany. Automotive engineering is a field with traditionally rather scarce publication activity and strong connections to industry. Substantial authority to define suitable research problems and ways of organizing knowledge production on a daily basis was therefore reserved for local academic elites as well as corporate partners. However, as engineers are increasingly expected to prove their performance through publishing in international peer-reviewed journals, the judgment as to what should be considered “interesting” or “robust” research is partly relegated to a gradually globalizing community of academic peers. This generates a variety of tensions with established ways of coordinating epistemic work at the department studied here. For example, the thematic interests of journals tend to exert a disruptive centrifugal pull in the context of an otherwise highly modular research culture, and possibilities to publish in international venues are unequally distributed across individual research projects. But while department members agree that there is a lack of fit between current practices and new expectations towards their publishing behavior, their opinions about the conclusions that should be drawn differ significantly. Some researchers argue that profound organizational changes are necessary to foster the academic rigor of German engineering research. Others believe that evaluation criteria should simply be adapted. This situation is arguably characteristic for research areas with a traditionally strong orientation to local stakeholders, and it suggests a need for more deliberative, participatory approaches to research evaluation in such fields.