Modelling museum efficiency in producing inter-reliant outputs

Abstract

The aim of this work is to evaluate the performance of a homogeneous state-run network of museums. Non-parametric models are used to measure relative efficiency in these institutions, and we employ a complex production function embracing a number of inputs and outputs adapted to the various functions which museums fulfil: preservation, research, communication, and exhibition. Our approach considers that managers drive certain outputs, but that others escape their control since they are co-produced by visitors and determined by demand conditions and external factors. Based on this, a network two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach is applied to evaluate museums' overall performance and to distinguish between efficiency in two stages: internal management and external outcomes. The low levels of performance and gaps in the scores from the first to the second stage suggest there are external factors that might determine museum performance. We therefore apply truncated regression models to analyse how and how much certain environmental variables might shape levels of museum efficiency. In this case, we consider indicators such as accessibility, tourism capacity, cultural appeal, museum age and the institutional management model. The application is performed on a sample taken from a Spanish state-run network of museums. Results show that, in general, good levels of efficiency in terms of management do not guarantee success when attracting visitors, and there seems to be a trade-off between the two goals. Variables such as tourism capacity and heritage endowments in the surrounding area, as well as the museum's management model, may determine museums' efficiency levels. The research findings may prove useful for running these cultural institutions and for those responsible for public resource allocation in cultural policies as well as for scholars, who may find a fresh approach for modelling museum efficiency and for discussing drivers of museum management success.

Is innovation in ICT valuable for the efficiency of Italian museums?

“…Among the inputs they use the opening hours that conversely is included in the output set by Carvalho et al (2014). On a different perspective, the recent works by Del Barrio-Tellado & Herrero-Prieto (2019) and Guccio et al (2020a) have exploited the idea that museums activity can be disentangled in two stages and the related distinction between outputs that are under the direct control of the museum's management and those which depend on the operational environment. While the latter paper focuses on the efficiency in the provision of the service potential of museums and estimate the frontier conditional to the environmental factors, Del Barrio-Tellado & Herrero-Prieto (2019) use a network two-stage DEA to study the overall efficiency of museums.…”

“…The estimates reported in this Section are obtained using the Stata package developed byBadunenko & Mozharovskyi (2016).13 A recent study (delBarrio-Tellado & Herrero-Prieto, 2019) on some Spanish museums finds similar average scores.…”

Business Performance and Sustainability in Cultural and Rural Tourism Destinations

“…Prior literature has also focused on the efficiency assessment of cultural spaces or institutions such as museums [40,47], libraries [48] and cultural heritage agencies [49]. Several papers used DEA models in the first step to evaluate the performance of these cultural institutions.…”

Audience success or art for art's sake? Efficiency evaluation of dance companies in the United States

“…To date, there have been fewer efficiency studies in the performing arts sector than those addressing other cultural institutions. Even though many studies focus on the efficiency evaluation of entities such as museums (Del Barrio‐Tellado & Herrero‐Prieto, 2019) or libraries (De Witte & Geys, 2013), in the case of performing arts, most works have tended to deal with theaters, in other words, evaluating the performance of the venues where the service is provided. However, there are hardly any efficiency studies focusing on the actual entities involved in the creative and production side of the service (theater companies, dance companies, opera companies, orchestras, etc.).…”

“…These models calculate efficiency at each stage, whilst simultaneously providing an overall efficiency indicator for each institution. Although network‐DEA has been used to analyze efficiency in other areas such as energy, health, finance or hotels (Avkiran & Tone, 2016) and even cultural heritage institutions such as libraries (Guccio, Mignosa, & Rizzo, 2018) and museums (Del Barrio‐Tellado & Herrero‐Prieto, 2019), to the best of our knowledge, there are still no applications to the performing arts sector, even though the manner in which they conduct their activities and the link between fundraising, cultural production, and final presentation, would seem to advocate their use.…”