This, on the market for high-end artworks, is one of the most interesting papers I have read: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/canice.prendergast/research/Market

This, on the market for high-end artworks, is one of the most interesting papers I have read: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/canice.prendergast/research/MarketContemporaryArt.pdf http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/canice.prendergast/research/... tl;dr: Art markets are unusual or unique in several ways, including thin demand (few buyers are interested in a given artwork, and their reserve prices will be very different), contempt for "flippers" (including shunning by galleries), and refusal to reduce prices, which would cause an artist's personal bubble to pop.