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The Economics of Art Thefts: Too Much Screaming over Munch's The Scream?

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  • Antonio Nicita
  • Matteo Rizzolli

Abstract

The theft of Munch's The Scream in 2004 fired up a debate over museums’ protection policies because of the low level of security and the lack of any insurance against theft. In this paper we provide a rationale for the choices made by the Munch's museum. More generally, we show how diverting expenses in security and insurance to investments over the notoriousness of their collections reinforces the protection of Museums’ properties. This is because of two counter‐intuitive effects: (1) investments in precautions, while reducing thieves’ profits, may adversely attract them towards works of art of higher value; (2) insurance may actually increase the incentive to steal works of art for the purpose of ransom.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Nicita & Matteo Rizzolli, 2009. "The Economics of Art Thefts: Too Much Screaming over Munch's The Scream?," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 28(4), pages 291-303, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econpa:v:28:y:2009:i:4:p:291-303
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1759-3441.2010.00045.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Frederick Chen & Rebecca Regan, 2017. "Arts and craftiness: an economic analysis of art heists," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(3), pages 283-307, August.
    2. Roee Sarel, 2022. "Crime and punishment in times of pandemics," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 155-186, October.
    3. David Yermack, 2017. "Donor governance and financial management in prominent US art museums," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(3), pages 215-235, August.
    4. David Yermack, 2015. "Donor Governance and Financial Management in Prominent U.S. Art Museums," NBER Working Papers 21066, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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