This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2011
  5. Sale Rates and Price Movements in Art Auctions

Sale Rates and Price Movements in Art Auctions

Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between sale rates and price shocks in art auctions. Using data on contemporary and impressionist art, we show that while sale rates appear to have little relationship to current prices, there exists a strong negative relationship of sale rates to unexpected price shocks, which is reminiscent of a Phillips curve. We estimate an empirical model that suggests that the reserve price is set on average at about 70% of the low estimate.

Citation

Ashenfelter, Orley, and Kathryn Graddy. 2011. "Sale Rates and Price Movements in Art Auctions." American Economic Review, 101 (3): 212-16. DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.3.212

JEL Classification

  • D44 Auctions
  • Z11 Cultural Economics: Economics of the Arts and Literature