Do governance features shape museum behaviour? Insights from participation to competitive funding

In this paper, we study how organizational features and governance models shape museums’ behaviour. We look at a specific aspect, namely the museums’ ability to secure funding through international competitive procedures. Using data from Italian museums and similar institutions, we first analyse the determinants of the probability of participating and winning a competitive international call. We find that both internal (organizational) features of museums and governance ones (such as special autonomy) significantly impact the likelihood of museum involvement in European co-funded projects. Second, we use a staggered treatment difference-in-differences approach to identify the causal impact of autonomy on such probability. The results show that the effect is positive and increasing over time as museums gain more exposure to the treatment. These results underscore the critical role of governance models in shaping proactive museum behaviour, offering valuable insights for cultural policymakers aiming to design governance frameworks that enhance museums’ financial sustainability and capacity to access external resources.