Christophe Spaenjers

Bio: Christophe Spaenjers is an academic researcher from HEC Paris. The author has contributed to research in topics: Investment performance & Common value auction. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 74 publications receiving 1578 citations. Previous affiliations of Christophe Spaenjers include Ghent University & Tilburg University.

Buying Beauty: On Prices and Returns in the Art Market

Abstract: This paper investigates the price determinants and investment performance of art. We apply a hedonic regression analysis to a new data set of more than one million auction transactions of paintings and works on paper. Based on the resulting price index, we conclude that art has appreciated in value by a moderate 3.97% per year, in real U.S. dollar terms, between 1957 and 2007. This is a performance similar to that of corporate bonds---at much higher risk. A repeat-sales regression on a subset of the data demonstrates the robustness of our index. Next, quantile regressions document larger average price appreciations and higher volatilities in more expensive price brackets. We also find variation in historical returns across mediums and movements. Finally, we show that measures of high-income consumer confidence and art market sentiment predict art price trends. This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.

Buying Beauty: On Prices and Returns in the Art Market

Abstract: This paper investigates the price determinants and investment performance of art. We apply a hedonic regression analysis to a new data set of more than one million auction transactions of paintings and works on paper. Based on the resulting price index, we conclude that art has appreciated in value by a moderate 3.97% per year, in real U.S. dollar terms, between 1957 and 2007. This is a performance similar to that of corporate bonds--at much higher risk. A repeat-sales regression on a subset of the data demonstrates the robustness of our index. Next, quantile regressions document larger average price appreciations (and higher volatilities) in more expensive price brackets. We also find variation in historical returns across mediums and movements. Finally, we show that measures of high-income consumer confidence and art market sentiment predict art price trends.

Religion, Economic Attitudes, and Household Finance

Abstract: We investigate the differences in economic attitudes and financial decisions between religious and non-religious households. Using Dutch survey data, we find that religious households consider themselves more trusting, and have a stronger bequest motive and a longer planning horizon. Furthermore, Catholics attach more importance to thrift and are more risk averse, while Protestants combine a more external locus of control with a greater sense of financial responsibility. Religious households are more likely to save. Catholic households invest less frequently in the stock market. Economic attitudes are particularly helpful in explaining the financial decisions of Catholic households.

Religion, economic attitudes, and household finance

Abstract: We investigate the differences in economic attitudes and financial decisions between religious and non-religious households Using Dutch survey data, we find that religious households consider themselves more trusting, and have a stronger bequest motive and a longer planning horizon Furthermore, Catholics attach more importance to thrift and are more risk averse, while Protestants combine a more external locus of control with a greater sense of financial responsibility Religious households are more likely to save Catholic households invest less frequently in the stock market Economic attitudes are particularly helpful in explaining the financial decisions of Catholic households

Art and money

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of equity markets and top incomes on art prices. Using a long-term art market index that incorporates information on repeated sales since the eighteenth century, we demonstrate that both same-year and lagged equity market returns have a significant impact on the price level in the art market. Over a shorter time frame, we also find empirical evidence that an increase in income inequality may lead to higher prices for art, in line with the results of a numerical simulation analysis. Finally, the results of Johansen cointegration tests strongly suggest the existence of a long-term relation between top incomes and art prices.

What About Us

Abstract: Established in 2006, TATA Africa Services (Nigeria) Limited operates as the nodal point for Tata businesses in West Africa. TATA Africa Services (Nigeria) Limited has a strong presence in Nigeria with investments exceeding USD 10 million. The company was established in Lagos, Nigeria as a subsidiary of TATA Africa Holdings (SA) (Pty) Limited, South Africa and serves as the hub of Tata’s operations in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Abstract: What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis

Abstract: Part I. Introduction: 1. Economic perspectives Part II. Media-Dependent Entertainment: 2. Movie macroeconomics 3. Making and marketing movies 4. Financial accounting in movies and television 5. Music 6. Broadcasting 7. Cable 8. Publishing and New Media 9. Toys and Games Part III. Live Entertainment: 10. Gaming and wagering 11. Sports 12. Performing arts and culture 13. Amusement/theme parks Part IV. Roundup: 14. Epilogue.

The Race between Machine and Man: Implications of Technology for Growth, Factor Shares and Employment

Abstract: The advent of automation and the simultaneous decline in the labor share and employment among advanced economies raise concerns that labor will be marginalized and made redundant by new technologies. We examine this proposition using a task-based framework in which tasks previously performed by labor can be automated and more complex versions of existing tasks, in which labor has a comparative advantage, can be created. We characterize the equilibrium in this model and establish how the available technologies and the choices of firms between producing with capital or labor determine factor prices and the allocation of factors to tasks. In a static version of our model where capital is fixed and technology is exogenous, automation reduces employment and the share of labor in national income and may even reduce wages, while the creation of more complex tasks has the opposite effects. Our full model endogenizes capital accumulation and the direction of research towards automation and the creation of new complex tasks. Under reasonable conditions, there exists a stable balanced growth path in which the two types of innovations go hand-in-hand. An increase in automation reduces the cost of producing using labor, and thus discourages further automation and encourages the faster creation of new complex tasks. The endogenous response of technology restores the labor share and employment back to their initial level. Although the economy contains powerful self correcting forces, the equilibrium generates too much automation. Finally, we extend the model to include workers of different skills. We find that inequality increases during transitions, but the self-correcting forces in our model also limit the increase in inequality over the long-run.