The Effects of the Economic Crisis on Cultural Operators [2009]

The economic crisis has effects on all the activity fields, including the cultural one.

In order to identify these effects on the cultural field, the Centre for Studies and Research in the Field of Culture carried out a study whose main objective was the analysis of the experts’ perception on the changes at financial level, as well as at the level of human resources and short- and medium-term investments. 

The methodology is similar to the one for trend prognosis used by the economic institutions. Among the main effects of the crisis were: the declining trend of incomes from self-financing, grants and scholarships, the decreased number of the collaborators of cultural operators. The data show the occurrence of problems caused by the increased number of sales returns, by the fluctuation of the Euro-Lei exchange rate, as well as by the difficulty in negotiations with companies involved in the promotion process.

As regards the remedy measures, there is an increased appetite for innovation, such as identification of new distribution channels. Moreover, in Romania, similarly to the international trend, there is a decrease of investment in new products, deemed “risky”. Most of the cultural actors who participated in the study identify the public sector institutions, such as ministries or local authorities, as being in charge with the anti-crisis measures.