AUCTION AND INVESTMENTS IN THE ART WORLD

The Auction and Investment in the Art Market Course is a course that students can choose from a cluster of courses provided in the related and complementary activities of the study plan.

The course aims at analyzing well-defined aspects of art market. In particular it focuses on auction mechanism for purchasing and selling art objects; moreover, the course aims at analyzing the art investment as an alternative form of investment in the financial market. To better appreciate the topics investigated, some methodological tools will be introduced, such as game theory and edonic regression.

The course allows students to acquire knowledge of the different auction mechanisms and to acquire scientific methods with which to read and understand the scientific literature of reference on economic-financial studies concerning the art market.
Knowledge and understanding: knowledge and understanding of the different auction mechanisms; knowledge and understanding of some elements of the Games theory; knowledge and understanding of some methods for the valuation of investments in risk condition; knowledge and understanding of some methods for the determination of art market price indices.

It is suggested to follow first the course of Quantitative Methods for the Economics of Art and take the relative exam.

FIRST PART:
Analysis of the different auction mechanisms. Auction sales anomalies.The phenomenon of collusion. Art auctions. Online auctions. Elements of game theory and applications to auction mechanisms.

SECOND PART:
Investment in art: art as an asset class. Art market price indices. Evaluating projects under uncertainty and risk. Return and risk of investing in art. Elements of art insurance. Diversification of the portfolio. Art investment funds.

• A.Basso, P. Pianca. Criteri di decisione per progetti aleatori. in: A.Basso, P. Pianca: Appunti di Matematica finanziaria, Cedam, 1997 (cap.7).
• C. McAndrew (ed.). Fine Art and High Finance, Bloomberg Press, 2010 (cap. 1-6)
• F. Patrone. La maledizione del vincitore, Lettera Matematica Pristem 52 pag. 33-35.
• F. Patrone. Breve introduzione alla teoria dei giochi, Dipartimento di Ingegneria della produzione.
• O. Ashenfelter, K. Graddy. Art Auctions, Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, vol.1, 2006, p. 909-945.
• G. Candela, P. Figini, A. Scorcu. Price Indices for Artists–A Proposal, Journal of Cultural Economics, 28, 2004, p. 285-302.
• L. Renneboog, C. Spaenjers. Buying Beauty: On Prices and Returns in the Art Market. Management Science, 59, 2013, p. 36-53.

Periodically, as the course progresses, more teaching materials will be posted on the Moodle platform. All Teaching materials will be available to students on the Moodle platform (https://moodle.unive.it/ )

The written test consists of four questions, each of which may be divided into sub-questions that contribute to the overall assessment of the examination. The questions (and sub-questions) may be theoretical in nature, or they may be formulated as numerical exercises. Each question contributes a total of 1/4 to the mark for the written examination. The examination will be passed with a mark greater than or equal to 18. Those who have obtained a total score of 18 or above in the four questions have the possibility of increasing their mark (by 1 or 2 points) by correctly answering an optional final question structured on the Scientific Articles uploaded to the appropriate section of the course on Moodle. The duration of the written test is 45 minutes.
During the examination, each student will be given ‘assignment sheets’ containing the text of the questions (and sub-questions) and a draft sheet. The answers to the questions (and sub-questions) are placed below the corresponding text on the ‘task sheets’. The answers to the questions (and sub-questions) are to be placed under the corresponding text in the ‘assignment sheets’, while the sheet for the rough copy is for service only and is not to be handed in at the end of the test.
Depending on the number of participants, the examination may be held in several rounds and/or in several classrooms. Rounds and classrooms will be communicated by e-mail to students registered for the exam one day before the exam date.

written

The written test consists of four questions, each of which may be divided into sub-questions that contribute to the overall assessment of the examination. The questions (and sub-questions) may be theoretical in nature, or they may be formulated as numerical exercises. Each question contributes a total of 1/4 to the mark for the written examination. The examination will be passed with a mark greater than or equal to 18. Those who have obtained a total score of 18 or above in the four questions have the possibility of increasing their mark (by 1 or 2 points) by correctly answering an optional final question structured on the Scientific Articles uploaded to the appropriate section of the course on Moodle.

The course consists of 30 hours of frontal lessons. One or more in-depth seminars will be organised in which art market experts will share their experiences.

Italian

Detailed information on the program and study materials will be communicated at the beginning of the course on e-learning page (www.moodle.unive.it).

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.