Crowding in, crowding out or neither?

The aim of this research is to find out to what extend private support can compensate for the budget cuts in government support for Dutch museums. This is done by looking at the crowding effects between different funding sources. The question answered in this research is: How does the amount of government funding relate to corporate and private support for Dutch museums? The empirical work is based on information from financial statements from the 405 members of the Museum Association. To find the relation between different funding sources, a regression analysis was performed using a sample of 78 museums. The results show no significant crowding in or out effects between government support and private support for museums. However, crowding effects are found between different sorts of government support and between different sorts of private support. These findings have a major impact on cultural policy. It shows that it is unrealistic to assume that private support will compensate for the cuts in public funding for the arts.