Posted 18 December 2008 @ 12:00 pm EST

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/18/08 -- Despite increased awareness and globalattempts at enforcement, the illicit antiquities trade has grown into a$4-billion market that has left behind a wide swath of economic,environmental and cultural degradation.

To slow this growth, financial incentives can be created that will promotelegal discovery and conservation while mitigating the effects of looting,according to a new report from the Milken Institute.

The report, Financial Innovations for Developing Archaeological Discoveryand Conservation, is the result of meeting at the Institute earlier thisyear with a diverse group of players in the antiquities trade, includingeconomists, museum representatives, attorneys, collectors, antiquitiesdealers and members of the archaeology community.

"An open, more efficient market can help address many of the problems thatplague the antiquities trade, including poverty, corruption andenvironmental and cultural degradation," said Glenn Yago, director ofcapital markets at the Milken Institute. "The whole chain of events, fromcountry of origin to museum or personal collector, needs a new set of legalmarket-based rewards."

The report offers three possible solutions, explained in detail in thereport:

-- long-term leases for museums and exhibitions-- museum/collector partnership-sponsored digs-- the design and development of archaeological development bonds

As stated in the report, the legal market needs to provide incentives andrewards along each step in the series of activities from discovery todisplay.

"Unfortunately, countries that are rich with antiquities and archaeologyare often economically underdeveloped," said Larry Rothfield, co-founderand research affiliate of the Cultural Policy Center at the University ofChicago, which assisted in organizing the Lab. "Many of them lack theresources to enforce basic anti-looting laws, let alone implement bestpractices or establish a legal industry in support of cultural heritage."

Financial Innovations Labs are part of the Milken Institute's continuingleadership in promoting financial innovations to help solve ongoing social,economic and environmental challenges.

The full report is available at www.milkeninstitute.org.

About the Milken Institute: The Milken Institute is a nonprofit,independent economic think tank whose mission is to improve the lives andeconomic conditions of diverse populations around the world by helpingbusiness and public policy leaders identify and implement innovative ideasfor creating broad-based prosperity. It is based in Santa Monica, Calif.(www.milkeninstitute.org)