The Art Basel effect

The art market is characterized by a “nobody knows” situation, where the price and quality of artworks are determined by both social and economic dynamics. Intermediaries and market infrastructures play an important role in linking demand and supply, which rarely meet in a situation of market equilibrium. Among these infrastructures, art fairs represent an interesting platform that may play a determinant role in the definition of an artwork’s price, in the labyrinth network of galleries and in relation to the career of artists who have participated in them. This thesis aims to investigate the micro-relation between the artist and the fair through a quantitative analysis of the prices of art. A sample of 89 young artists extracted from the Art39 Basel catalogue has been analyzed and compared with a control group of 89 young artists who have never attended Art Basel in their artistic career. Their price indices have been calculated through a hedonic regression analysis, and their trends and results have been examined in seeking out an “Art Basel” effect that may explain the price changes and trends for the two samples.