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Do China's anti-corruption campaigns impact art prices? Evidence from Chinese art market

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  • Bian, Timothy Yang
  • Zhang, Yue
  • Zhou, Nanxing

Abstract

China's recent anti-corruption campaign has raised concerns about its potential impact on the Chinese art market, given the widespread use of artworks as implicit bribes. Using a large auction dataset for traditional Chinese paintings, we examine whether anti-corruption measures have caused a decline in art prices. We use the number of high-ranking officials (vice-ministerial level or higher) under anti-corruption investigation as a proxy for the intensity of such measures. Our results show a statistically significant negative impact: for each additional downfall of a high-ranking official in a region, auction prices for Chinese paintings decrease by 5.5 %. The negative effect is more evident for paintings drawn by non-masters and those with lower prices.

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  • Bian, Timothy Yang & Zhang, Yue & Zhou, Nanxing, 2025. "Do China's anti-corruption campaigns impact art prices? Evidence from Chinese art market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:90:y:2025:i:c:s0927538x25000174
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2025.102680
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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