ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to find out whether and how industrial organization shaped patterns of innovation in cultural production in the Dutch Republic between 1580 and 1800. The economic framework now popular in studies on Golden Age cultural production, we should take into account the local organization of the sectors in order to explain patterns of growth and innovation. The Dutch Republic's sudden emergence as an important cultural centre after 1580 has been attributed to a combination of cultural, social and economic circumstances. Viewing cultural products as commodities has greatly improved our understanding of the dynamics of historical art markets. The work of Stephan Epstein and building on new institutional economics, historians have highlights the role of guild organization in reducing transaction costs at several stages of the industrial process: training, the coordination of complex production processes and the creation of markets. Maarten Prak observes that the industrial organization of Early Modern Dutch painting resembles that of a modern industrial cluster.
