Work for Passion or Money? Variations in Artists’ Labor Supply

Abstract

Summary This paper assesses the relative impact of work for money or work for passion on Norwegian artists by examining artists’ labor supply. Our contribution is twofold. The first is to test the work‐preference model and the second is to investigate the impact of arts grants on artists’ labor supply. The empirical specification draws two distinctions: between arts and non‐arts income and between labor and non‐labor income. Non‐labor income is divided into three different sources: (1) spouse's income, (2) income from financial assets and social benefits, and (3) arts grants and subsidies. Our contribution adds to the literature by estimating the significance of these various income sources on the time allocated to arts work, non‐arts work, and leisure. The results provide convincing evidence for the work‐preference model, and ad hoc evidence shows that art grants have a significant positive effect on the supply of arts hours. This finding supports arts policy and shows the impact of art grants on artists’ motivation to work on their arts. The causality of wages on supply is demonstrated by estimating the effects of wage shocks (grants) on arts labor supply using fixed‐effect and difference‐in‐difference methods.

On the Idiosyncrasies of the Labour Market for Visual Artists

“…Wage earnings are needed to finance consumption if non-labour income and proceeds from selling art work are not sufficient. This is the model first presented by Throsby (1994bis) and recently estimated by Casacuberta and Gandelman (2012) for Peruvian musicians and by Bille et al (2017) for Norwegian artists. We have constructed (independently) a similar model as our basic tool.…”

“…The analysis above suggests a number of relevant parameters: artistic and non-artistic wages, non-labour income, minimum consumption and marginal rate of substitution between consumption and artistic labour time, time preference, and risk attitude. The relevance of non-artistic wages and non-labour income has been measured in Casacuberta and Gandelman (2012) and in Bille et al (2017), who also measure a significant effect of artistic earnings. Effects of preference parameters have not been tested.…”

Art and Resilience: The Artist's Survival in the Spanish Art Market - Analysis from a Global Survey

“…The lack of a census that provides concrete data on the number of plastic and visual artists with professional activity in Spain makes it difficult to quantify the population of our study. The analysis of the existing literature (McAndrew [37][38][39], Eurostat [15], AAVC [1]) 8 , combined with an in-depth study of those records that in our country include artists for their tax activity (Tax Agency, Social Security, National Employment Institute), as well as the databases of the numerous professional 7 The observation of the Spanish art system reality and, in particular, the evolution and dynamics of the art market and its relation with artists as generators of the whole process, has been in the genesis of our study for more than twenty years, intrinsically linked to our professional development. The methodology followed in that first phase, even before we knew that it would be the beginning of our research, sought to collect and analyze data that allowed us to understand reality at any time, to explain it in the space-time context and to venture its evolution in the short term.…”

“…This problem, far from being local or restricted to countries like Spain, is global and affects artists all over the world. The precariousness of the artists' life in our society, which has been a largely studied issue (Abbing [2]; Bağcıoğlu [5]; Bille, Løyland & Holm [8]; Bille & Jensen [9]; Bass, Milosevic & Eesley [7]; Dekel [14]; Filler, 1986; Gill & Pratt [21]; Klamer [33]; Lena & Lindemann [36]; McAndrews [39]; Michael [43]; Robinson & Montgomery [50]; Steiner & Schneider [57]; Throsby [58,59]; Wassall & Alper [60]), offers now the challenge of finding out which resources, social, professional or psychological, what degree of resilience, are the artists using to confront this difficult situation.…”

Impact of Government Support on Performing Artists’ Job and Life Satisfaction: Findings from The National Survey in Korea

“…Regarding the performing arts, many actors must be available for performances and must be hired for long periods. This results in high costs [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. The performing arts significantly rely on public partnerships that are not affected by economic crises, as personal support and corporate sponsorships can be heavily impacted by economic crises [ 1 , 4 ].…”