Museums’ Economic Performance and Directors’ Recruitment Process: An Assessment of the Recent Policy Reform of the Italian Museum Sector

We study the economic effects of a reform of the national museum sector, the so-called Franceschini Reform, implemented in 2015. The reform introduced a new organization of the national museum system. One of the most innovative instruments of the policy was the establishment of a different method - an international call for applications - in the selection of directors of major museums (museums of “national interest”). The article studies the effects of this new recruitment policy on museum economic performance, focusing on revenues. Using a difference-in-difference technique for the years 2014 to 2017, we show that the new recruitment policy improved the revenues of treated museums throughout Italy by a range between 17% and 26%. We also find that the characteristics of the directors (age, field of degree, and study abroad experience) play a role in explaining the increase in revenue of these Institutions. We thus find evidence of significant benefits of the policy. The new knowledge may be useful for improving museum and cultural sector management policies.