L?economia della cultura: nascita, evoluzione e prospettive di una disciplina in espansione

Carlofilippo Frateschi (by Carlofilippo Frateschi) - ABSTRACT: In this article the author presents the evolution of the field of cultural economics in the last decades. The aim is to single out some important and promising themes within its wider and very rich research agenda, by stressing particularly: a) the widening of the issues and of the specific topics examined: from the early enquiries dealing almost exclusively with the performing arts and the market for visual art works, to the study of the broader subject represented by the cultural industries, up to the emergence of the even more extensive sphere of the creative industries; b) the recognition of a series of peculiarities, typical but not necessary exclusive of the artistic and cultural goods, together with the identification of their consequences for the definition of the demand and supply functions for these goods; c) the main features of (and justifications for) the public support of the arts; d) the impact that cultural economics has had and could have on the development of economic theory and policies.