Should Cultural Goods Be Treated Differently?

This article considers the specificity of cultural goods, services, and artifacts in the context of international trade theory. The analysis discusses possible justifications for import or export restrictions on cultural goods.     

Marketing and the Fine Arts – Inventory of a Controversial Relationship

This study concentrates in part on the market of fine arts. First, fine arts will be defined from a marketing point of view and peculiarities in the market of fine arts will be analysed empirically and theoretically. Certain aspects of marketing theory are discussed regarding their significance for the fine arts. Results of an empirical study of galleries and artists will be presented. It will be shown, whether and how artists are involved in marketing, how successful they are and what prerequisites to marketing the artists have.     

Do People Really Care About the Arts for Future Generations?

Many people argue that public art contains an element of bequest value: value derived by people today from the expected enjoyment of the art by future generations. In this paper, I investigate the existence of this claimed benefit. I employ an intergenerational model of the benefits from government subsidies and private charitable gifts to the arts, and fit it empirically using 1996 US General Social Survey data. The data analysis suggests that people take their life expectancies into account to some extent when giving to the arts or supporting government arts spending. Indeed, we cannot reject the hypothesis that people do not consider future generations in their current support for the arts.     

Re-treatment of whale bones – How to extract degraded fats from weakened bones?

Many whale (baleen whale or toothed whale) skeletons still contain residual lipids even after an initial osteological preparation. This paper examines the different possibilities of re-treatment. Before a conservation intervention, it was necessary to determine the materials of which bones are made up. The samples were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. Different compounds were identified: a mineral part (apatite), an organic part (collagen) and lipids. Chromatography analysis yielded a detailed composition of the lipids. It was in fact degraded fat with saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. To remove these lipids, several techniques were identified and tested: enzymatic treatments, supercritical CO₂, and green or organic solvents. Esterification catalyzed by lipases could be suitable for a degreasing treatment since the solubility of esters is higher than that of the corresponding fatty acids. The enzymatic treatment acted only on the surface and did not appear to be very efficient. The use of supercritical CO₂ was even less effective. Some green solvents can partially extract lipids but prove difficult to eliminate after treatment. The best results for degreasing were achieved using organic solvents. Different solutions were evaluated at hot or ambient temperature and in simple immersion or with agitation (Soxhlet or pulsed pressure): hexane, heptane, a mixture of hexane/isopropanol, or an azeotropic mixture of methanol/chloroform. Only the mixture of methanol/chloroform succeeded in extracting the overall fat content, but this treatment degraded the organic part of the bones. The other organic solvents extracted mainly colored fat, which generally corresponded to a weight loss of 20 to 50%. The majority of fat was extracted during the first bath. Thus the treatment selected is that of immersion in heptane at ambient temperature. The degreasing of whole bones is less effective because of the film of sticky degraded fat on the bone's surface. A pre-cleaning is necessary to eliminate this film.     

Digital complements or substitutes? A quasi-field experiment from the Royal National Theatre

Digital broadcast technologies have expanded the virtual capacity of live performing arts venues, but they have also raised concerns about possible cannibalisation of box office revenues. We report the results of a quasi-field experiment involving the Royal National Theatre’s live broadcasts of theatre to digital cinemas in the UK and find that, if anything, live broadcasts generate greater, not fewer, audiences at the theatre.     

Price Indices for Artists – A Proposal

This paper proposes a price index for artists adjusted for the quality of the paintings, based on the ratio between the average market price and the average pre-sale estimate for paintings. We apply this methodology to a group of selected artists and schools presented in auctions worldwide in the period 1990–2001. A comparison with quality unadjusted and hedonic indices is also conducted.JEL Classification: C10, Z11     

Why Do Companies Sponsor Arts Events? Some Evidence and a Proposed Classification

Corporate philanthropy towards the arts isof long standing in the United States. There is nosuch tradition in Europe, but corporate sponsorship ofthe arts has been in place since the 1960s (seeFrémion, 1994). This paper will discuss thedifferences and similarities between these two formsof business support to the arts and then concentrateprimarily on corporate sponsorship. The motivationsfor companies to sponsor arts events are examined inthe context both of the literature relating to themotivations for corporate philanthropy and corporatepromotional/marketing expenditure. Results from asurvey of 69 companies that had sponsored 129 artsevents in Ireland are presented and compared to thelimited results from similar surveys elsewhere. Itis suggested that the motivations for such sponsorshipcan usefully be reduced to four: promotion ofimage/name, supply-chain cohesion, rent-seeking andnon-monetary benefit to managers/owners. The evidence for this from the survey, either directly available orimplicit in the responses to some other questions, issignificant.     

Hope for the Future? Early Exposure to the Arts and Adult Visits to Art Museums

This paper employs logistic regression to explore the relationship between art lessons and art history and appreciation classes as a child with adult visits to art museums. The regression-based technique allows for control of other influences such as demographic indicators of tastes and preferences. The results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that early exposure results in later participation, although exposure seems to have strongest influence in the pre- and post-teen years.     

Expert Judgment Versus Public Opinion – Evidence from the Eurovision Song Contest

For centuries, there have been discussions as to whether only experts can judge the quality of cultural output, or whether the taste of the public also has merit. This paper tries to answer that question empirically, using national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. We show that experts are better judges of quality in the sense that the outcome of finals judged by experts is less sensitive to factors unrelated to quality than the outcome of finals judged by public opinion. Yet, experts are not perfect; their judgment does still depend on such factors. This is also the case in the European finals of the contest.     

Halite – A new calibration material for microdrilling resistance measurements

This paper aims at proposing a new calibration material for microdrilling resistance measurements. Microdrilling resistance is a microdestructive method mainly used in built heritage in order to determine the strength profile in depth. This method is suitable to detect changes in the material cohesion, either due to a different state of preservation or to the action of a consolidant. Calibration materials are often used in microdrilling measurements in order to characterise the drill bit initial value and to correct the variations existing within the initial values of a set of drill bits. Calibration materials are also useful to detect the wear effect on a drill bit due to an abrasive stone. Moreover, such materials can be used for comparing results obtained with different microdrilling machines. In this work, halite was chosen to be tested as a calibration material due to its properties, as low hardness and isotropy. Halite single crystals and halite salt stone from different provenances were tested in order to evaluate the suitability of this material to the requests of a calibration material for microdrilling resistance applications, as for instance being homogeneous, non-abrasive, sensitive and available worldwide. Experimental results show that halite from different provenances is very homogeneous, especially in the crystalline form. This form of halite is slightly more expensive than stone halite; however its costs are comparable to ARS and significantly lower than Macor (other calibration materials commonly used for microdrilling resistance measurements). Due to the advantages of halite for calibration purposes, this material should be further tested by other authors in order to validate our conclusions.     

What is the ‘Social’ in Climate Change Research? A Case Study on Scientific Representations from Chile

Over the last few decades climate change has been gaining importance in international scientific and political debates. However, the social sciences, especially in Latin America, have only lately become interested in the subject and their approach is still vague. Scientific understanding of global environmental change and the process of designing public policies to face them are characterized by their complexity as well as by epistemic and normative uncertainties. This makes it necessary to problematize the way in which research efforts understand ‘the social’ of climate change. How do ‘the climate’ and ‘the social’ interpenetrate as scientific objects? What does the resulting field look like? Is the combination capable of promoting reflexivity and collaboration on the issue, or does it merely become dispersed with diffuse boundaries? Our paper seeks to answer these and other related questions using Chile as a case study and examining peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic. By combining in-depth qualitative content analysis of each paper with a statistical meta-analysis, we were able to: characterize the key content and forms of such literature; identify divisions and patterns within it; and, discuss some factors and trends that may help explain these. We conclude that the literature displays two competing trends: while it is inclined to become fragmented beyond the scope of the ‘mitigation’ black box, it also tends to cluster along the lines of methodological distinctions traditionally contested within the social sciences. This, in turn, highlights the persistence of disciplinary divisions within an allegedly interdisciplinary field.

     

What is Basic Research? Insights from Historical Semantics

For some years now, the concept of basic research has been under attack. Yet although the significance of the concept is in doubt, basic research continues to be used as an analytical category in science studies. But what exactly is basic research? What is the difference between basic and applied research? This article seeks to answer these questions by applying historical semantics. I argue that the concept of basic research did not arise out of the tradition of pure science. On the contrary, this new concept emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time when scientists were being confronted with rising expectations regarding the societal utility of science. Scientists used the concept in order to try to bridge the gap between the promise of utility and the uncertainty of scientific endeavour. Only after 1945, when United States science policy shaped the notion of basic research, did the concept revert to the older ideals of pure science. This revival of the purity discourse was caused by the specific historical situation in the US at that time: the need to reform federal research policy after the Second World War, the new dimension of ethical dilemmas in science and technology during the atomic era, and the tense political climate during the Cold War.     

Why do Scientists Migrate? A Diffusion Model

This article improves our understanding of the reasons underlying the intellectual migration of scientists from existing cognitive domains to nascent scientific fields. To that purpose we present, first, a number of findings from the sociology of science that give different insights about scientific migration. We then attempt to bring some of these insights together under the conceptual roof of an actor-based approach linking expected utility and diffusion theory. Intellectual migration is seen as the choice of scientists who decide under uncertainty and on the base of estimations about probabilities, costs, and benefits of the migration. The resulting choice model can be used as a heuristic base for further exploration of the subject.     

3DSSE – A 3D Scene Search Engine: Exploring 3D scenes using keywords

The evolution of real time 3D graphics technologies in combination with high bandwidth Internet connections and modern Web browsers enable users to explore complex 3D scenes. As a rule, a virtual visitor has to manually explore the geometrically complex 3D model in order to discover points of interest. This manual exploration is a time consuming process that, in some cases, can be assisted by sets of predefined points of interest. In this paper, we propose the annotation of 3D scenes in order to equip the user with a text based 3D scene search engine. The search engine provides a query mechanism that unburdens the user from the time consuming process of manually exploring vast 3D scenes. It responds to queries by exploiting the metadata of each 3D model and returns textual and visual information along with a group of links that correspond to relative points of interest within the 3D scene. The search engine allows the virtual visitor to automatically be transferred to a specific point of interest. We have built a Web accessible prototype system that is able to handle queries related to historical data, topological relationships and architectural properties of buildings. A number of 3D reconstructions covering urban areas of cultural importance located in Northern Greece have been annotated and used in the search engine as case studies. The prototype system is based on open source technologies and on a hybrid metadata schema that is derived from the MIDAS Heritage and MACE schemas.     

A qualitative method for combining thermal imprints to emerging weak points of ancient wall structures by passive infrared thermography – A case study

The significant number of buildings constructed in the world before the appearance of compulsory earthquake projecting norms, as well as the subsequent construction in the safe seismic zones, requires a constant re-evaluation of the strength of the structures. For example, the 2009 earthquake happened in L’Aquila city (Italy), killed about 300 people. Furthermore, many old buildings, seriously damaged, were considered as historical monuments and their importance is still critical both from a cultural standpoint and for the city itself. On the basis of the surveys carried out by the Las.e.r. Laboratory (university of L’Aquila) before and after 2009 earthquake, this paper introduces the infrared thermography (IRT) as a mean to characterize particular thermal imprints that appear on ancient facades, employing the passive thermography, discussing the infrared images collected during several years, and analyzing their relationship with all kinds of influence factors, in order to validate the effectiveness of the technique and its role in preventive diagnosis.     

Carnation Atoms? A History of Nuclear Energy in Portugal

Drawing upon the concepts of civic epistemologies and sociotechnical imaginaries, this article delves into the history of nuclear energy in Portugal, analyzing the ways in which the nuclear endeavor was differently enacted by various sociopolitical collectives – the Fascist State, post-revolutionary governments and the public. Following the 1974 revolution - known as the Carnation Revolution - this paper analyzes how the nuclear project was fiercely contested by a vibrant anti-nuclear movement assembled against the construction of the Ferrel Nuclear Plant, the first sociotechnical controversy in Portugal, paving the way for the emergence of a combative civic epistemology. Supported by semi-structured interviews with scientists, activists and local residents of Ferrel and the analysis of historical material, this article presents the failed Portuguese nuclear endeavor as an emblematic case study to explore the co-production of science and society, in particular the role of revolutionary processes in the unfolding of sociotechnical controversies.     

A Fish out of Water? Management Consultants in Academia

What happens when management consultants enter the academic arena and offer their services to universities? In the following article, we examine this question by drawing on findings from a qualitative study based on a series of 30 interviews with senior management consultants and academic managers in Germany. The aim of this explorative study is, first of all, to provide theoretically informed observations about the working mechanisms of management consulting in academia. A second, and related objective, is to contribute to the ongoing debate on the changing nature, role, and implications of managerial expertise and authority in higher education institutions. We begin our study by providing an overview of the literature on the changing nature of university management. Although these studies show a shift in the power constellation of universities from professional to managerial authority, we argue that they remain suspiciously vague as concerns the way academics and managers actually deal with this conflicting situation. By drawing on the insights of consulting studies, we then explore the stakes of consultancy in academic change projects and determine the analytical factors that will guide our qualitative analysis. Finally, we present and discuss the findings before concluding with more general remarks on the nature of academic management in German universities.     

Characterization and origin of weathering crusts on Kylin carved-stone,Kylin countryside,Nanjing – A case study

To evaluate the effects of the environment pollution on weathering of outdoor stone artifacts in Kylin countryside, Nanjing, a Kylin carved-stone was studied accordingly to the observable decay pattern on its surface. Different samples were collected either from the deteriorated areas or from the sound stone substrate. The samples were characterized by IR, XRD, XRF, SEM, IC and ICP techniques. Gypsum, kaolinite, calcium oxalate and phosphate together with an high content of heavy metals and soil particulates are mainly located on sheltered or partially exposed areas, while an extensive network of parallel fissures is mainly developed on surfaces directly exposed to rainwater. Furthermore, an extensive colonization by lichen is affecting a wide surface of the carved-stone, which is strongly adherent to the surface. The obtained results show that the deterioration is mainly due to the atmospheric pollutants and its extent is strongly dependent on the surface exposition to the environment.