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Posthumous trading patterns affecting artwork prices
[Financial returns, price determinants, and genre effects in American art investment]

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Listed:
  • Dakshina G De Silva
  • Georgia Kosmopoulou
  • Rachel A J Pownall
  • Robert Press

Abstract

This study aims to identify factors contributing to price fluctuations in artworks after an artist’s death. With access to information on seller characteristics from a historical dataset of all art auctions that took place in London between 1741 and 1913, we investigate how trading patterns and network effects at auctions affect art sales prices. Following an artist’s death, we capture dynamic effects in sales patterns and find that prices decline by 7%. We attribute this decline on the confluence of non-strategic and strategic effects, first on a frequent lack of access to professional consultation and secondly on changes in trading patterns of art dealers posthumously. Our results highlight the long-term influence of those factors on high valued art.

Suggested Citation

  • Dakshina G De Silva & Georgia Kosmopoulou & Rachel A J Pownall & Robert Press, 2022. "Posthumous trading patterns affecting artwork prices [Financial returns, price determinants, and genre effects in American art investment]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(2), pages 453-472.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:74:y:2022:i:2:p:453-472.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpab024
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Cuntz & Matthias Sahli, 2023. "Ars longa, vita brevis: The death of the creator and the impact on exhibitions and auction markets," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 76, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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