Abstract
In modern Western art, creativity is closely linked to the arts. Indeed, the rank of an artist’s evaluation much depends on how innovative he or she is considered to be. In contrast, an artist who produces the same art as others is called an imitator and his or her work is taken to be of low quality. He or she may not even be included among the artists. This emphasis on creativity applies to all kinds of art. Thus, it is essential that a painter develops a new style and a writer a novel way of writing and viewing the world. It does not go too far to claim that creativity is the essence of art 1.
This chapter is based on Bruno S. Frey (2002), “Creativity, Government and the Arts”, previously published in De Economist 150, pp. 363–376, used by permission of Kluwer Academic Publishers.
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References
This has not always been so. When Michelangelo forged a work by his master Domenico Ghirlandaio, it was to openly demonstrate his ability as an artist. There are even accounts of buyers who welcomed a reproduction even though they had thought it to be an original. Thus the buyers of the claimed Renaissance bust of Lucrezia Donati were pleased to discover that it was a fake; that an artist of such talent was still alive (Jones 1990, p. 15). For an extensive quantitative discussion of the importance of novelty from impressionist to cubist French painters, see Galenson (1999). In non-Western art (e.g. Chinese) as well as in parts of Western art (e.g. with respect to the production of icons), it is also more important to follow the examples set by forerunners than to exhibit creativity.
A notable exception is Throsby 2001, ch. 6, pp. 93–109.
The role of the entrepreneurs is not at the centre of attention in neoclassical economics (but see Baumol 1990), in contrast to evolutionary and Schumpeterian economics.
But there are exceptions, in particular Klamer (1996) and Hutter (1987, 1992, 1998a), who deviate significantly from neoclassical economics. See also Castarer and Campos (2002).
An exception is, for instance, Alpers (1988) with her account of Rembrandt’s life.
One might argue that this policy leads to “underground art”. This is quite true, but in most cases it is rather small with respect to the number of art consumers reached, and confined to particular art forms suitable for clandestine presentation.
Lepper and Greene (1978), Deci 1971, Deci and Ryan 1985, Deci and Flaste (1995). Crowding Theory has been introduced into economics by Frey (1997). The experimental findings in psychology are summarized in Deci, Koestner and Ryan (1999) and Cameron, Banko and Pierce (2001). A more complete survey of the empirical results, including real life evidence, is provided in Frey and Jegen (2001). An application to the theory of the firm, and in particular to the transfer of tacit knowledge, is given in Osterloh and Frey (2000).
It is, of course, possible to concoct some story in order to reduce artistic activities. One such possibility is provided by rent-seeking activities, which might consume more resources than granted from outside. But such stories require many additional assumptions.
In many cases, the analysis is focussed on the effects of direct subsidies and other tax expenditures on production in the arts and social welfare (e.g. Peacock 1969). Formal studies are provided e.g. by Hansmann (1981), Le Pen (1982), Dupuis (1983), Austen-Smith and Jenkins (1985). A survey of the instruments for the public promotion of the arts is provided in e.g. Throsby and Withers (1979), Frey and Pommerehne (1989a), Trimarchi (1985a, 1994), Benhamou (2000), Heilbrun and Gray (2001), Throsby (2001).
Thus Grampp (1989) and Cowen (1998) praise the ability of the market to produce (good) art, and therefore find it quite unnecessary and even pernicious for the state to intervene.
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Frey, B.S. (2003). Creativity, Government and the Arts. In: Arts & Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24695-4_9
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