Museums, markets and eudaimonia : economic insights for museums

Abstract

Museums are, ostensibly, in a constant state of transformation, responding to social and economic developments at various levels (NEMO, 2018). Such transformation is important, according to the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), because “there is a need for museums to stay relevant and responsive”(NEMO, 2018). This paper discusses some of the spillover that occurs between museums and the socioeconomic contexts they inhabit, identifying insights that may inform the quest for responsiveness and enduring relevance. The approach draws from three key fields of scholarly work in economics, namely: I. Standard neoclassical theory on markets and market-failure, II. Research on the measurement and determinants of eudaimonic wellbeing as an indicator of socio-economic development, III. Insights from the behavioural economics literature on deviations from rational self-interested behaviour and the implications of this for policy and intervention design. The paper is also informed by research currently underway in Valletta, Malta as part of Valletts’s 2018 European Capital of Culture title initiative.