The behavioural economics of culture

We make the case for further advancing cultural economics through the application of behavioural economics methods and insights. Behavioural economics offers a reconciliation of two distinct strands within cultural economics, one that observes neoclassical economic method, and one that affirms the abundant psychological aspects of cultural economising. We argue that behavioural economics is well positioned for a synthesis as it was designed for the study of psychological ‘anomalies’ within the spirit and methodology of economics. We identify and discuss selected contributions to this emergent but dispersed literature and highlight promising areas that may be further investigated. We also explore the potential for behavioural economics to contribute to cultural policy.