Baumol’s disease, brows, public funding, and artistic output - CEOS #24

CEOS-Cultural Economics Online Seminar on Baumol’s disease, brows, public funding, and artistic output: Past, present (and possible futures) To what extent live performing arts have been depending on public funding, and how has that affected their artistic quality and output? This CEOS will combine an historical economic perspective of Italian theatres between Italy’s unification in 1861 and WWI (contributed by Michela Giorcelli and Petra Moser) with current artistic and managerial challenges and solutions at renowned opera house Teatro La Fenice in Venice (contributed by Fortunato Ortombina and Andrea Erri). Michela Giorcelli is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics of UCLA, a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Fellow at the Center from Economic Policy Research, a Research Affiliate at the CESifo Research Network, and a Faculty Affiliate at the California Center for Population Research. Her research combines methods from economic history and applied microeconomics to examine the determinants of management and technology innovations and their impact on firm productivity. Petra Moser is a Professor of Economics at NYU Stern. My research combines methods from economic history and applied microeconomics to examine the determinants of creativity and innovation. She studies the behavior of inventors, composers, writers, and scientists from the 19th century to today to figure out what makes people creative, what encourages firms to take the risks that are inherent in innovation, and what types of institutions encourage people to do their best work. Michela and Petra recently published the SSRN paper (De)Funding the Arts: Effects on Creativity (2023). Fortunato Ortombina is CEO and Artistic Director at opera house Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He received his musical, arts, composition and musicology degrees at A. Boito Conservatoire, Parma, and the University of Parma. Previous appointments include Teatro Regio Parma, Teatro Regio Turin, San Carlo Theatre in Naples, and Teatro La Scala in Milan. His research and publications span operatic theatre during the Napoleonic occupation, the musical culture of Parma, and composers Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Salvatore Cammarano and Antonio Somma promoted by publisher Ricordi. Andrea Erri is General Manager, Finance and Marketing Departments at opera house Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He was formerly Director General at the Foreign University of Siena, Director of Administrative Services and Human Resources at the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, and President of the International University of the Arts of Venice. He is Adjunct Professor of Cultural Heritage Management and Project Management of Cultural Activities at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He published research on professional training. The seminar will be moderated by CEOS coordinator Elisabetta Lazzaro.