MUSEUMS

The Market for Education: Museums

The Market for Education: Museums

Introduction

Nowadays, museums become increasingly important than ever before. They turned out to be significant tourist attractions and leisure activities of people. Customers made significant amount of expenditure, either in museums shops and restaurants and admission fees. These expenditures have a vital impact on tourism industry, as well as on local economies.

In the art world, museums fulfil several significant functions and appear to be important holiday and leisure activity. This paper studies about museums functioning from an economic perspective. Factors of demand and supply shaped museum services and by the institutional setting limiting the decision takers. Moreover, this study reviews that the institutional factors, such as a museum is publically or privately owned has a great influence on its operations as regards to commercial activities, price setting and management of collection.



Discussion

Economic Functioning of the Market

There can be two perspectives that help in understanding “economic functioning of museum market.” From economic perspective, museum can be viewed as a firm or economic unit; thus, the analysis is based on the relationship between input (human resources) and output (revenue). Secondly, museums involve assuming people's desire to spend or visit museum within environmental and institutional constraints, particularly when resources are limited (Thomo, 2010, pp.229-240).

Economic functioning of museum can rely on neo-classical theories (rational or standard choice theory). Here, the people are assumed to be absolutely rational, and the study is based on relationship exist in the market supposed to function efficiently. In institutional perspective, it is vital to go beyond the market. As regards to public analyses, government also possesses a significant impact on museum through taxes and subsidies.

Demand of Museums

For the purpose of this study, example of two museums is taken into consideration, namely, Reykjavik Museum and Göteborgs Stadsmuseum, in Iceland and Sweden respectively.

Goteborgs Stadsmuseum (GSM) is situated in the hub of old Göteborg, and in an attractive momentous building. The museum has the oldest and biggest intensive and cultural history collection. The mission statement of GSM museum describes its role, which is to mediate, study, preserve and collect the cultural heritage of the city. The focus of the museum on its responsibility towards the city and society, through serving the society as a platform for promoting and communicating new ideas, which concern all types of social studies. The key target audience of GSM are school students and immigrants, and undeniably other societal members (Lampi and Orth, 2008, pp.1-23).

In 2002, approximately 119.961 visitors visit GSM; however, the total number of visitors was about 62.630 at the exhibitions in Ostindiska huset (main building). School children are the most frequent visitors; roughly 25 percent of the total visitors and 38 percent of total Ostindiska huset visitors. Based on statistics, this indicated that school students visit museum at least once in a month. However, the ratio of visitors is comparatively low during the summer. The museum has a budget of about 50.000.000 SEK and employed to about 90 ...