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Abstract

This study investigates the socioeconomic situation of cultural workers in Chile. This investigation hypothesises that the socioeconomic status of cultural workers is signifcantly precarious based on informal work, tax contribution gaps, low salaries and social reproduction in the arts. The purpose of the investigation is to identify and improve people's financial situation in the cultural sector. Hence, this study is divided into three articles, which investigate different variables affecting the socioeconomic situation of cultural workers based on their contribution to pensions, access to public funding and cultural export strategies.

The first article studies the pension scheme of cultural workers, directly affecting their socioeconomic situation. The hypothesis is that cultural workers pensions are significantly low and do not secure a decent life quality, affecting several aspects of their lives. The second article investigates the public funding mechanism for art projects and how this mechanism does not solve the instability of cultural workers incomes but only provides short-term grants, which are not sustainable in the long term. The third article looks for new trade partners for Chilean cultural goods and services. As the internal demand for culture is not suffcient to guarantee economic stability for cultural workers, it is necessary to analyse the external demand for cultural products and find potential partners, which can provide higher incomes to cultural workers in the end.

The three articles share the same methodology. Firstly, a probabilistic model using Logit Binary Choice Model to identify the effect of each significant variable on three dependent variables: i) Probability of a cultural worker contributing to their pension. ii) The likelihood for an artistic project to receive a public grant. iii) The likelihood for a country to import cultural goods from Chile. Later, this investigation applies predictive models using two Machine Learning techniques - Regression Trees and Random Forest - to identify and prioritise the most relevant predictors affecting the probabilities mentioned above.

The study results show that it is possible to improve the pensions, public grants and export strategies for cultural workers by targeting policies in certain significant variables. Moreover, the three articles share the conclusion that variables related to more formality in their labour market could improve their socioeconomic situation and well-being, but acknowledging that policies related to the more formal scheme might find resistance from cultural workers.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs > School of Policy & Global Affairs Doctoral Theses School of Policy & Global Affairs > Sociology & Criminology Doctoral Theses

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