Paper presented at Second Annual International Conference on Cultural Economics and Planning, sponsored by the Association for Cultural Economics, Mastricht, Holland, May 26-28, 1982.

One of the most intriguing areas waiting to be tackled in the emerging literature on the economics of the arts is the role of quality consideration in the decisions of firms, consumers and funding agencies.

Yet the importance of quality judgments in decisions relating to the production and consumption of the arts is undeniable, and if economics is to throw any light on how such decisions are made, or in a normative sense, how they should be made in order to achieve certain objectives, the quality question cannot be avoided. (p. 162)

In this paper I consider some of the general problems of interpreting quality in the demand and supply of performing arts services. I then propose a simple firm-based model of an exchange system for performing arts services in which quality enters specifically. The implications of the demand side of this model are then explored using data for three Sydney theatre companies.
(p. 163)

In this paper some of the problems and prospects in studying the role of quality in demand for the theatre have been discussed. A set of criteria for evaluating quality judgments in the performing arts has been proposed, and in a limited way some of the criteria have been used in estimating demand and utility functions. Although results are tentative and qualified, they do confirm unambiguously the importance of qualitative variables in influencing both demand and supply decisions in the performing arts. (p. 174, 176)

CONTENTS
Introduction.
Interpretation of quality in the performing arts.
A model.
Conclusion.
Notes [bibliography].
Table:   
     1. Demand function estimates: Three Sydney theatre companies, 1974-1978.

Paper presented at Second Annual International Conference on Cultural Economics and Planning, sponsored by the Association for Cultural Economics, Mastricht, Holland, May 26-28, 1982.