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Financial Returns and Price Determinants in the Australian Art Market, 1973–2003*
Author(s) -
HIGGS HELEN,
WORTHINGTON ANDREW
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
economic record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1475-4932
pISSN - 0013-0249
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2005.00237.x
Subject(s) - hedonic regression , painting , index (typography) , hedonic index , economics , construct (python library) , willingness to pay , period (music) , regression analysis , price index , econometrics , art , financial economics , classical economics , art history , microeconomics , statistics , mathematics , computer science , aesthetics , programming language , world wide web
In this study, 37 605 paintings by 60 well‐known Australian artists sold at auction over the period 1973–2003 are used to construct a hedonic price index. The attributes included in the hedonic regression model include the name and living status of the artist, the size and medium of the painting and the auction house and year in which the painting was sold. The resulting index indicates that returns on Australian fine‐art averaged 7 per cent over the period with a standard deviation of 16 per cent. The hedonic regression model also captures the willingness to pay for perceived attributes in the artwork, and this shows that works by McCubbin, Gascoigne, Thomas and Preston and other artists deceased at the time of auction, works executed in oils or acrylic, and those auctioned by Sotheby's or Christie's are associated with higher prices.