Should I stay or should I go: A dynamical model of musicians’ agglomeration and migration

Abstract

The musicians’ working scenario is characterized by unstable employment, professional oversupply, and competition. To cope with uncertainty musicians frequently migrate to artistic cities for more working and learning opportunities. We introduce dynamical aspects in a well-known model of artistic goods’ production, to shed light on artists’ career choices. The model shows that leaving the city the musicians are in is always a possible choice and when artists decide to migrate their behavior may follow cycles. Finally, the model suggests that the musicians’ working scenario is complex and mutable; therefore, to properly interpret the results, several aspects are to be considered.