O'Brien, Rees & Taylor - Who runs the arts in England?
O'Brien, D., Rees, G., & Taylor, M. (2022) Who runs the arts in England? A social network analysis of arts boards. Poetics, 92: 101646.
Recent research has brought attention to significant inequalities in cultural production. This paper explores one potential explanation for these disparities by focusing on the boards of directors responsible for arts institutions. Using UK Companies House data, the study analyses the boards of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs). It then examines the connections between these organisations and other entities sharing board members. The research reveals that while the network of NPOs is relatively sparse, with most organisations having no shared board members, most of these organisations are indirectly linked to one another in the one-hop network. The network includes a substantial number of arts and cultural organisations, film funding organisations, and financial services companies. The most central company in the network is the Royal Opera House, followed by companies associated with significant tax advantages for their directors. These findings raise important questions about the governance of culture and highlight the interconnections between cultural institutions and financial entities.
O'Brien, Rees & Taylor “Who runs the arts in England? A social network analysis of arts boards”