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Culture Brings Prosperity, According to ifo Research Report

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Key findings of cesifo research paper “Music in the Air: Estimating the Social Return to Cultural Amenities” include:

  • Culture is expensive but worth it: Expenditure on cultural institutions have a positive effect on income in the region
  • The ifo researchers understand their results as an argument supporting subsidies for cultural institutions
  • According to their research on opera houses it is unclear, however, whether a country as a whole benefits from investment into individual region’s cultural sector

The report is available for download, with a summary in English.

A comment in the SZ hence warns cities and municipalities to cut the culture budgets under the influence of current financial pressure: These cuts may seem quick and easy but could have devastating indirect effects.

France: Internet Marketplaces Becoming More Popular

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Around 95 % of French internet users have already shopped at an online marketplace, according to a study conducted by market research institute Sorgem Metrics for a software company. Six out of ten consumers have changed their purchasing behavior because of this form of retail being available, and revenues from internet marketplaces have increased in 2014 by 53% compared to the previous year. More details on the website of Germany Trade and Invest (in German).