Impact of Government Support on Performing Artists’ Job and Life Satisfaction: Findings from The National Survey in Korea

In this study, we aim to propose motives that can help increase the creative activities of Korean performing artists and discuss the policy implications for the sustainable management of Korean performing arts. First, we investigate the characteristics of Korean artists that receive subsidies as a form of government support for undertaking artistic activities. Second, we examine whether receipt of such grants influences the artists’ job and life satisfaction. Through a logistics model, we reconstructed the “2015 Survey Report on Artists & Activities” and validated the research hypothesis. We first considered subsidies that could directly impact artists’ income and activities and then verified whether subsidies influence artists’ job and life satisfaction. As a result of the research, first, art grants should be supported in order to help artists produce creative and experimental works. Second, we showed that artists’ subsidies should be expanded in order to enhance artists’ quality of life and the sustainability of artistic activities. Above all, subsidy support for artists showed that art can be legitimate as a public good, which is a common asset in society.