Search

Abstract: We study the distribution of funds in Sicily (the Autonomous Sicilian Region) to the heritage authorities of regional governments. Using data uniquely available for the nine provinces of Sicily for the period of 1992–2002, we find that the allocation of funding for cultural heritage conservation activities was politically motivated and influenced by the prominence of representatives of the ruling coalition in a district and the loyalty of voters to the main party. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the influence of information and communication technologies (ICT) on the efficiency in attracting visitors of Italian museums. Notwithstanding the extensive literature on museum performance measurement, the analysis of the role of technological innovation is relatively neglected. As a first attempt to fill this lacuna, this study presents a two-stage analysis of a novel sample of Italian state-owned museums built by merging information drawn from different sources. In the first stage, we use bootstrapped Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure the efficiency of museums. In the second stage, we use a bootstrap truncated regression approach to test the extent to which different forms of ICT affect museum efficiency. We distinguish the ICT investments into 'in situ' and online services, since the former improve the visitors' experience on site, while the latter can prepare for the visit or, even, be a substitute of the visit. The results reveal that the use of ICT is generally associated with better performances but 'in situ' services show to play a major role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to offer a formal analysis which relates provision of cultural goods to the society's level of cultural capital. Such a level is assumed to already exist in society and is increasable thanks to individual support for the offer of cultural goods. The achievement of the highest levels of cultural capital increases satisfaction coming from cultural goods consumption, and then voluntary contributions. Social approval, deriving from donations, is positively related to society's existing cultural capital and triggers a positive externality for donators, thus increasing contributions and generating a positive externality for the whole society. The dynamic analysis provided in this study requires the adoption of a differential game where individuals interact, making their choices on their voluntary contribution level. We find that, under certain conditions, the solution obtained for the Nash equilibrium with closed-loop strategies provides optimal level of cultural capital that exceed the Pareto efficient solution obtained through open-loop strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economists have paid an increasing attention to the estimation of efficiency in the public sector. Archives constitute an exception notwithstanding their cultural and historical relevance. This paper is, to the best of our knowledge, the first attempt to fill this lacuna. The analysis of the performance of archives raises theoretical issues because their outputs have characteristics of a pure public good (preservation) and of a private service (utilisation). Moreover, the trade-off between the long and short-run goals of, respectively, preservation and utilisation is central in most public policies concerning heritage. We address this issue by studying the efficiency of public historical archives (PHAs) in Italy, over the period 2011–2012. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and implement one-stage and two-stage approaches to investigate PHAs' performance in the management of their different and potentially conflicting functions. Our analysis shows that PHAs perform better in the preservation function, considering the objectives and constraints they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assesses the evolution of efficiency of Italian public universities for the period 2000–2010. It aims at investigating whether their levels of efficiency showed signs of convergence, and if the well-known disparity between northern and southern regions decreased. For this purpose, we use a refinement of data envelopment analysis, namely window analysis, which allows for measuring efficiency in cross-sectional and time-varying data. We find that the efficiency of most universities registered only marginal changes in the period, although a notable re-ranking occurred. However, changes in the management of universities, consequential to the reform processes, did not affect the long-run tendencies, such as the persisting difference in performance between north and south. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Museums are important cultural institutions having the mission of conserving, interpreting, researching and displaying heritage. The evaluation of their efficiency has been extensively investigated in the literature using different approaches and methods. In this paper, we employ a generalised conditional efficiency model to assess the true efficiency of Italian museums, i.e. the efficiency in the provision of museums' service potential, consistently dealing with the impact of the socio-demographic and institutional environment in which museums operate. Results show that the operational environment matters. In particular, conditional estimates suggest that higher income levels and larger hospitality sectors positively influence museums efficiency. Ownership matters: museums' service potential is higher for private institutions while, among public institutions, efficiency is generally lower for state-owned museums. • Generalised conditional efficiency model measures the technical efficiency of museums. • We focus on outputs under the direct control of museums' managers, the so-called service potential. • We use a generalised conditional efficiency model to assess the efficiency of a large sample of Italian museums. • Results show that both institutional features and operational environment matter for assessment museums' service potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]