Sale Rates and Price Movements in Art Auctions
Orley Ashenfelter, Kathryn Graddy
American Economic Review · 2011 · Volume 101 · Issue 3
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.
Keywords
Auctions, Cultural Economics: Economics of the Arts and Literature
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