FROM MAINTENANCE TO PERFORMANCE: A CRITERIA-BASED MODEL FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THEATRICAL AND PERFORMING ARTS INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Financial support for municipally owned theatres is an important instrument of a city’s cultural policy; however, the prevailing maintenance-based budgeting model does not ensure the effective use of public funds and fails to create incentives for institutional development. In the context of limited budgetary resources, increasing competition in the cultural services market, and the absence of approved sector-specific efficiency criteria, there is a growing need for transparent and performance-oriented approaches to the allocation of financial support. This article substantiates the transition from an input-based model of financing to a result-oriented framework grounded in the assessment of theatres’ core activities. It proposes an author’s criteria-based model for evaluating the performance of municipal theatrical and performing arts institutions and a Methodology for determining the amount of financial support from the local budget. The Methodology integrates official statistical and financial indicators into a unified analytical system and applies an integral index based on relative measures, which makes it possible to compare institutions of different types, scales, and organisational models without relying on absolute benchmarks. The proposed approach is tested using data from 21 municipal theatre institutions in Kyiv for the period 2023–2025. The results demonstrate significant differentiation in performance levels and reveal a redistribution effect within the fixed volume of budgetary resources when performance criteria are taken into account. The study also highlights the critical importance of data quality, the verification of statistical reporting, and the need to consider institutional specificities such as the absence of a permanent venue or the predominance of rental or touring activities. The findings confirm that the proposed Methodology can serve as an analytical tool for substantiating managerial decisions in the field of cultural policy and for improving the transparency and effectiveness of financial support for municipal theatres.