The Impact of the Droit de Suite in the UK: An Empirical Analysis

The Droit de Suite, known in the UK as Artists’ Resale Rights, provides an artist with the inalienable right to receive a royalty based on the resale price of an original work of art. This paper provides an empirical analysis of actual changes in the UK auction market for art that is subject to the Droit de Suite (DDS), relative to changes for art not subject to the DDS, and also relative to changes in the auction markets for art in countries where there has been no change in law. We do a difference-in-difference analysis, differencing price growth and sales growth across market segments and across countries over the period 1996 to 2007. Our results suggest that the introduction of the DDS has not had a negative impact on the UK art auction market.