{"id":6044,"date":"2025-10-16T12:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.getonnet.dev\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:27:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T09:27:41","slug":"cultural-economics-research","status":"publish","type":"tema","link":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Economics Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cultural economics is a specialized field within economics, and has long been a central research field at Telemarksforsking. A central contribution to the research field in Norway came with the book Cultural Economics<\/a> by Vidar Ringstad in 2005. Among the topics addressed here are economic justifications for cultural policy, demand for performing arts, production and cost problems for performing arts institutions, markets for visual art, economic issues related to cultural heritage, cultural monuments, books and the book market, culture’s significance for value creation, artists’ economic conditions and artists and their organizations’ activities in the political market.<\/p>\n

A number of demand analyses have been conducted at Telemarksforsking, such as for visual art and cinema, as well as demand for book loans from Norwegian and Swedish public libraries, such as Performing arts and cinema demand: Some evidence of Linder’s disease<\/a> and The demand for books estimated by means of consumer survey data<\/a>. A number of projects have been conducted specifically related to the book sector and the fixed price system, such as Fixed or free book prices: is a hybrid system superior?<\/a> and Why are book prices rising so sharply?<\/a><\/p>\n

In recent years, much of the research at Telemarksforsking has been at the intersection between cultural economics and fields such as regional development, municipal economics and cultural working life.<\/p>\n

Culture’s Role in Regional Development<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While theories that culture creates growth have gradually become established in Norwegian regional policy, this has also emerged as a research topic at Telemarksforsking. This belief in culture as a catalyst for growth is inspired among other things by Richard Florida’s theories about the creative class, as well as success stories about former industrial sites that have invested in culture and architecture and subsequently experienced renewal and growth. Examples often cited are Bilbao, Glasgow and the Norwegian version Drammen. Empirically, however, it has proven difficult to demonstrate such a positive connection, which our research also shows.<\/p>\n

In the note Does Culture Create Attractive Places?<\/a> the Norwegian Culture Index<\/a> is used to study the relationship between cultural level and how attractive municipalities and regions are for in-migration. When we corrected for other factors that also affect migration in the analyses, we found that municipalities with a lot of culture are not more attractive as places to live than municipalities with little culture.<\/p>\n

In the article Local development policy: do new culture houses have an impact on migration? The case of Norway<\/a> <\/span>it is studied whether the establishment of culture houses has had an impact on municipalities’ migration flows. Here it is concluded that one does not find a causal relationship between culture house establishment and increased in-migration, but that the explanation rather lies in the fact that culture houses have been established in municipalities that already have population growth.<\/p>\n

Municipal Cultural Expenditures and Local Cultural Offerings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In connection with the cultural review in 2014, a study of cultural expenditures in municipalities was conducted. This work also led to the article Local government allocation of cultural services.<\/a> Here, development trends in municipal cultural expenditures are studied more closely, and how municipalities’ prioritization of the cultural area, and the various sub-areas within the cultural field such as libraries, cultural schools, sports, etc., depend on selected characteristics of the municipalities. The results confirm previous findings that the municipal cultural sector has high income elasticity, but that there is a large difference between the various types of sub-areas. This is related among other things to the fact that the individual areas are differently regulated and standardized.<\/p>\n

In the article From institutions to events \u2013 structural change in Norwegian local cultural policy <\/a>we study how the cultural sector has changed since 1990, and that there has been a shift from supporting traditional institutions, such as libraries and cultural schools, to new cultural arenas such as festivals and culture houses. This shift is explained by three types of mechanisms: 1) the cultural sector’s “flexibility” which makes it sensitive to changes in funding from local authorities 2) New types of earmarked schemes that shift resources toward festivals and events and 3) local decision-makers’ embrace of theories about culture as a source of urban and regional renewal and growth.<\/p>\n

In Festival Boom or Cultural Policy Pipe Dream?<\/a> it is shown, however, that both the number of establishments, events and participation in festivals have stabilized at a certain level, and that the notion that expenditures on festivals and event culture have made a heavy impact on municipal cultural economics is probably misleading. Increased operating costs for municipal culture and sports buildings\/facilities are probably a much more striking phenomenon than increased municipal expenditures on festivals and event culture.<\/p>\n

An ongoing work studies how recent years’ large investment in culture houses has affected local cultural life. Here the hypothesis is confirmed that there has been a change in prioritization of local resources, and that there has been stronger support for professional types of art and culture and less support for volunteers and children\/youth. It is also shown that the cultural sector has become more professional in the form of an increase in the supply of cinema and theater, as well as that the number of jobs in culture and entertainment has increased more in municipalities that have established culture houses.<\/p>\n

Artists’ Income and Working Conditions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Comprehensive work on artists’ incomes and working conditions has been conducted in connection with two large artist surveys. This is described in more detail here: Cultural Working Life.<\/a><\/p>\n

From these studies, two international articles have been produced among other things. Work for Passion or Money? Variations in Artists’ Labor Supply <\/a>studies the relationship between different income sources and how much time artists spend on artistic work, non-artistic work and leisure, and shows among other things that art grants have a positive effect on time spent on artistic work. Why are artists getting poorer? About the reproduction of low income among artist<\/a> studies why artist income has decreased, while at the same time experiencing positive economic growth and increased transfers to the cultural sector in the same period. The findings show among other things that time spent on non-artistic work and income from this has increased, and that artists have received less income from the market<\/p>\n

References:<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Culture and Regional Development <\/u><\/p>\n

Does Culture Create Attractive Places?<\/a><\/p>\n

Local development policy: do new culture houses have an impact on migration? The case of Norway<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

Municipal Cultural Expenditures <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Local government allocation of cultural services<\/a><\/p>\n

From institutions to events \u2013 structural change in Norwegian local cultural policy <\/a><\/p>\n

Cultural Expenditures in Municipalities<\/a><\/p>\n

Artists’ Income and Working Conditions<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Why are artists getting poorer? About the reproduction of low income among artist<\/a><\/p>\n

Work for Passion or Money? Variations in Artists’ Labor Supply <\/a><\/p>\n

Various <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perspectives, Issues, Models and Analysis Methods<\/a><\/p>\n

Demand for Book Loans from Swedish Public Libraries<\/a><\/p>\n

On the cultural blessings of fixed book prices. Facts or fiction?<\/a><\/p>\n

Performing arts and cinema demand: Some evidence of Linder’s disease<\/a><\/p>\n

Norwegian Subsidized Theatres – Failure or Future?<\/a><\/p>\n

Borrowing demand at local public libraries in Sweden<\/a><\/p>\n

Fixed or free book prices: is a hybrid system superior?<\/a><\/p>\n

Determinants of borrowing demand from Norwegian local public libraries <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The demand for books estimated by means of consumer survey data<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6044","tema","type-tema","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCultural Economics Research - Telemarksforsking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cultural Economics Research - Telemarksforsking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cultural economics is a specialized field within economics, and has long been a central research field at Telemarksforsking. A central contribution to the research field in Norway came with the book Cultural Economics by Vidar Ringstad in 2005. Among the topics addressed here are economic justifications for cultural policy, demand for performing arts, production and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Telemarksforsking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/telemarksforsking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T09:27:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/\",\"name\":\"Cultural Economics Research - Telemarksforsking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-16T12:28:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-25T09:27:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Hjem\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cultural Economics Research\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Telemarksforsking\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Telemarksforsking\",\"alternateName\":\"Telemark Research Institute\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TF_logo_CMYK.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TF_logo_CMYK.png\",\"width\":1429,\"height\":156,\"caption\":\"Telemarksforsking\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/telemarksforsking\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/telemarksforsking\/\",\"https:\/\/no.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telemarksforsking\",\"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q4616898\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cultural Economics Research - Telemarksforsking","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cultural Economics Research - Telemarksforsking","og_description":"Cultural economics is a specialized field within economics, and has long been a central research field at Telemarksforsking. A central contribution to the research field in Norway came with the book Cultural Economics by Vidar Ringstad in 2005. Among the topics addressed here are economic justifications for cultural policy, demand for performing arts, production and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/","og_site_name":"Telemarksforsking","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/telemarksforsking","article_modified_time":"2026-02-25T09:27:41+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/","url":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/","name":"Cultural Economics Research - Telemarksforsking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-16T12:28:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-25T09:27:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/tema\/cultural-economics-research\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Hjem","item":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cultural Economics Research"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/","name":"Telemarksforsking","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#organization","name":"Telemarksforsking","alternateName":"Telemark Research Institute","url":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TF_logo_CMYK.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TF_logo_CMYK.png","width":1429,"height":156,"caption":"Telemarksforsking"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/telemarksforsking","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/telemarksforsking\/","https:\/\/no.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telemarksforsking","https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q4616898"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema\/6044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tema"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema\/6044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6276,"href":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema\/6044\/revisions\/6276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telemarksforsking.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}