Abstract

The possibility for private enterprises to set museum shops within the Italian cultural institutions was originally provided by the law 4 of 1993, known as the Ronchey law. Having introduced the possibility of a private intervention in a traditionally public-driven environment, the law also, and above all, represented a significant and large-scale revision of the public-private relationship in the cultural field. In accordance with the relevant economic purpose of the law, this note firstly takes into account a quali-quantitative evaluation of the economic performances of Italian museum shops in the recent years. As the law's organizational impact changed roles and rules within the Italian museum "industry", the paper elaborates a further reflection - based upon empirical evidences - about the consequences of the law for the development of competencies in the Italian heritage institutions.