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		| Erdal  Atukeren and Aylin  Seçkin | 
	
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		| ''Art and the Economy: A First Look at the Market for Paintings in Turkey'' | 
	
		| ( 2006, Vol. 26 No.3 ) | 
	
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		| We investigate the relationships between the return on investments in paintings and other financial investments in Turkey. To this aim, we estimate a hedonic price index for a portfolio of Turkish painters. We find that investing in the market for paintings is a viable alternative even in an environment of high inflation and large macroeconomic volatility. The portfolio under investigation yielded a small but positive real return. Still, stock market returns are higher than the returns in the art market. Furthermore, we find a rather high correlation between stock returns and art market returns. However, the returns to investing in paintings are negatively correlated with the returns on traditional investment alternatives in a developing country context, such as foreign exchange, gold, and bank deposits. Hence, there might exist some room for portfolio diversification. Nevertheless, the time horizon of the investments is a key factor especially in portfolios involving art objects. | 
	
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		| Keywords: | 
	
		| JEL: Z1 - Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology: General 
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		| | Manuscript Received : Sep 05 2006 |  | Manuscript Accepted : Sep 05 2006 | 
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