Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/34884 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3445
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper uses a unique data set of Latin American paintings auctioned by Sotheby's between 1995 and 2002 to investigate several puzzles from the recent auctions literature. Our results suggest that: (1) the reputation of an artist and the provenance of the artwork, omitted variables in most previous studies, seem to be more important determinants of the sale price of a painting than standard factors, such as medium and size, (2) the opinion of art experts seems to be of limited use in predicting whether or not an artwork sells at auction, (3) there is little supporting evidence for the widespread notion that the best or more expensive artworks tend to generate above average returns (the masterpiece effect”), although (4) there is strong evidence in our data for the declining price anomaly, or afternoon effect.
Subjects: 
Art auctions
masterpiece effect
declining price anomaly
Latin American art
JEL: 
D44
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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