My research has two main focus areas: economics and management in the arts, and strategic management of nonprofit organizations. Here are links to my published work
Muhlenberg Digital Repository of my work
ORCID listing with DOI info: Roland J. Kushner (0000-0002-2706-2565) – ORCID
After years as an arts manager in competitive local markets, I’m still keenly interested in how arts organizations compete and succeed both locally and nationally. From 2005-2016, I was research director for the National Arts Index and Local Arts Index of Americans for the Arts. My collaborator and partner in this effort has been Randy Cohen, VP of Americans for the Arts for Research and Policy. Over the years, I’ve conducted studies of differences between the arts economies in regions and nations. In 2017 and 2018, I worked with professors Mark Hager of Arizona State University and HeeKyung Sung of Cal State Northridge on a paper examining the dimensions of local arts, subsequently published as a book chapter. Another on-going study examines how arts in higher education affects arts in communities and regions. For many years, I helped Chorus America by writing the annual Chorus Operations Survey Report and reporting on choral leadership practices. In a stream of research with Greg Collins of Muhlenberg and Todd A. Watkins of Lehigh University, we been explored regional impacts of the arts, using an adjacent-county model. A recent paper with Allison Davidson of Muhlenberg traced the durability of “Millennial” arts organizations that started in the 1990s. In 2026, with Alex Olivares of the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, I am writing a case study of cultural policy and of National Statistical Statistics Frameworks for the UNESCO Institute of Statistics.
A second theme is strategic management of nonprofit organizations, especially governance practice and performance measurement. I’m particularly interested in issues of stewardship of tradition and long-standing practices in nonprofit organizations, the motivations and practices of Board members, and the measurement of organizational effectiveness. Recent work in this field includes “The Invisible Balance Sheet,” using the accounting framework of the balance sheet as a model for categorizing positive and negative capacity indicators for nonprofits. I am now studying how Board members’ underlying values affect their roles and responsibilities in governance.
I’ve also done studies of the Lehigh Valley business and economic environment including studies of local purchasing, the nonprofit economy, and the arts.
Last updated May 30, 2026
