The article focuses on how the connection between the institutional system of a country and the role of the state changes in the financing of the cultural sphere. To examine the changes, the author analysis the financing model of the USA and the Russian Federation, countries which use very different methods and techniques for the financing of the cultural sphere. The author assumes in his hypothesis that in those countries which have an underdeveloped institutional system, the possibility of direct state support and control for the financing of the cultural sphere is much greater. The results of the analyses are tested on the cultural economy of the Netherlands where the cultural financing system exhibits characteristics of both the American and the Russian models at the same time.

Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: P14, P39, Z10, Z11