Direct versus indirect aid to the arts: A Canadian perspective

Conclusions The bulk of contemporary policy concern in the cultural area is focussed on the nature of government assistance. In particular, there is a growing feeling that indirect assistance to cultural industries should be promoted to a greater extent than it has been in the past. This feeling reflects both the view that real levels of direct government grants may not be sustainable and the presumption that indirect forms of assistance (such as tax concessions and the like) can channel aid to artists more efficiently than direct forms of assistance, such as Canada Council grants to arts organizations. The various arguments offered in favor of one or another approach towards funding cultural activities are certainly not conclusive. The main point to be made in this regard, however, is that debate over how culture should be funded is taking place in the absence of explicitly formulated operational objectives as well as crucial information about how the cultural production and marketing processes operate. In this regard, ineffectual policy-making across the broad spectrum of cultural assistance programs may be of far greater concern than any efficiency differences which might be anticipated between various forms of assistance to the arts.     

Economic impact of the arts: Theatre festivals in small Ontario communities

Conclusions This paper has demonstrated that visitors to professional theatre companies located in towns and villages of southern Ontario contribute to the economic well-being of the local economy. Furthermore, it has been documented that while all communities receive some monetary benefits, spatial variations are found to exist. These discrepancies are a function of differences in the average expenditures of non-local residents and the total number of visitors attending the theatre event. As expected, average expenditures appear to be highest in communities supporting a large commercial sector which are capable of sustaining a touris market. Moreover, the number of visitors attending a theatre event appears to be greatest in small communities supporting an established theratre company.     

The “manifest destiny” of the performing arts

Journal of Cultural Economics -     

Programmatic choices and the demand for theatre: the case of Flemish theatres

Theatre experts generally agree that the Flemish theatre has flourished artistically over the period 1980–2000. Attendance, on the other hand, has declined significantly. Following Lancaster’s characteristics approach, we identify several output characteristics of individual theatre productions. Using a panel of 59 Flemish theatres, we examine the impact on demand of both these output characteristics and of traditional determinants such as own price, income and the price of substitutes. Differences in the relevant geographical market for touring and non-touring theatres are considered. We find that the nature of the artistic output affects demand. Theatregoers prefer large productions (in terms of cast size), plays by Dutch-speaking playwrights and revivals of old productions. Own price and consumer income have the expected negative and positive effects on attendance. Observed trends toward a decreasing proportion of new plays, an increasing presence of plays by Dutch-speaking playwrights, and increasing consumer income had a stimulating effect on attendance. These trends have been offset, however, by trends toward smaller cast sizes and higher ticket prices as well as by unobserved factors captured by time dummies. The net result has been a considerable drop in attendance.