May 12, 2004 - 9:00am to May 14, 2004 - 5:00pm
Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Tarrytown, New York
Lasting Effects Conference Summary and Edited Transcript (PDF) — Edited for clarity as well as concision, this document highlights the major themes of this conference. It provides a clear and brief introduction to current thinking about economic impact analyses. This document also contains a very informative introduction by Jonathan Katz and a glossary of economic terms.
About the Conference
In the rush to attract and retain tourists and residents, cities across the nation have been implementing large public arts and culture projects. In Chicago alone, the last few years have seen the development of such major public arts projects as Millennium Park, The Harris Theatre of Music and Dance, and the renovation of Solider Field. It is taken as an article of faith among many that these projects are worth their cost. But are they? How do these developments and other, similar projects across the country contribute to their host communities? Does a state of the art theatre center add vitality to a community’s economy? Does the development of cultural amenities attract the “creative class,” or does the presence of this class spark the development of cultural amenities? If it’s true that the arts and culture have a discernable impact on economies, what is the best method for obtaining a realistic measurement of this impact? Moreover, can the importance of arts and culture be reduced to economic considerations?
To address these questions and others, the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago convened Lasting Effects: Assessing the Future of Economic Impact Analysis of the Arts, a three day conference that examined benefits and pitfalls of using economic impact analysis (EIA) as a tool for arts advocacy.
Conferees included close to 30 prominent economists, advocates, and cultural practitioners. Organizations represented at the conference included:
- The Illinois Arts Alliance
- The RAND Corporation
- The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
- Americans for the Arts
- Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
- National Conference of State Legislatures
Educational institutions represented at the conference included:
- The University of Chicago
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Macquarie University, Australia
- George Mason University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- University of Westminster, Great Britain
Lasting Effects: Assessing the Future of Economic Impact Analysis of the Artswas made possible through the generous support of:
- The Chicago Community Trust
- The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
- The Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at The University of Chicago
- The Irving B. Harris Foundation
Papers
Some Observations of Analyzing Economic Impact: A Case Study, the Economic Impact of the Staples Center on the City of Los Angeles
by Robert A. Baade
Assessing the Impacts of the Cultural Industry
by David Throsby
The Supply Constraint Problem in Economic Impact Analysis: An Arts/Sports Disparity
by Bruce Seaman
When Should Regions Bid for Artistic Resources?
by Tyler Cowen
Participants
Robert A. Baade, Professor of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College
David Beeman, Research Assistant, Cultural Policy Center, The University of Chicago
David Brookshire, Professor of Economics, University of New Mexico
Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research and Information, Americans for the Arts
Don Coursey, Ameritech Professor of Public Policy, Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, The University of Chicago
Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Charles L. Granquist, Director of Pocantico Programs, the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation
Peal Imada Iboshi, Chief Economist, Research and Economic Analysis Division, State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism
D. Carroll Joynes, Executive Director, Cultural Policy Center, The University of Chicago
Jonathan Katz, Chief Executive Officer, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
Jim Kelly, Director, Cultural Development Authority, King County, Washington
Mary King, Professor of Economics and Department Chair, Portland State University
Sarah Lee, Research Assistant, Cultural Policy Center, The University of Chicago
Kevin McCarthy, Senior Social Scientist, RAND Corporation
Douglas Noonan, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
Anthony Radich, Executive Director, Western States Arts Federation
Mandy Rafool, Senior Policy Specialist, National Conference of State Legislatures
Lawrence Rothfield, Faculty Director, Cultural Policy Center, The University of Chicago
Michael Rushton, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Urban Studies, Georgia State University
William A. Schaffer, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology
J. Mark Schuster, Professor of Urban Cultural Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Bruce Seaman, Associate Professor of Economics, Georgia State University
Sara Selwood, Quentin Hogg Research Fellow, School of Media, Arts, and Design, University of Westminster
Dick Stanley, Director of Strategic Research and Analysis, Department of Canadian
David Throsby, Professor of Economics, Macquarie University
Alene Valkanas, Executive Director, Illinois Arts Alliance
Anita Walker, Executive Director, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
Greg Wassall, Professor of Economics, Northeastern University