Capturing the benefits of preserving cultural heritage

Use value of cultural experiences: a comparison of contingent valuation and travel cost.

The current literature often values intangible goods like cultural heritage by applying stated preference methods. In recent years, however, the increasing availability of large databases on real estate transactions and listed prices has opened up new research possibilities and has reduced various existing barriers to applications of conventional (spatial) hedonic analysis to the real estate market. The present paper provides one of the first applications using a spatial autoregressive model to investigate the impact of cultural heritage—in particular, listed buildings and historic–cultural sites (or historic landmarks)—on the value of real estate in cities. In addition, this paper suggests a novel way of specifying the spatial weight matrix—only prices of sold houses influence current price—in identifying the spatial dependency effects between sold properties. The empirical application in the present study concerns the Dutch urban area of Zaanstad, a historic area for which over a long period of more than 20 years detailed information on individual dwellings, and their market prices are available in a GIS context. In this paper, the effect of cultural heritage is analysed in three complementary ways. First, we measure the effect of a listed building on its market price in the relevant area concerned. Secondly, we investigate the value that listed heritage has on nearby property. And finally, we estimate the effect of historic–cultural sites on real estate prices. We find that, to purchase a listed building, buyers are willing to pay an additional 26.9 %, while surrounding houses are worth an extra 0.28 % for each additional listed building within a 50-m radius. Houses sold within a conservation area appear to gain a premium of 26.4 % which confirms the existence of a ‘historic ensemble’ effect.

The market value of cultural heritage in urban areas: an application of spatial hedonic pricing

Impacts of a music festival may appear in many forms and research in the area of impact assessments is at present developing wider perspectives than being limited to economic impact assessments. Concepts like social, cultural and environmental impacts are now appropriate and traditional cost–benefit analysis is regaining momentum. The purpose of this study was first, to discuss how the value of a festival can be assessed and understood within a cost–benefit framework. Second, it was to evaluate a Scandinavian music festival in terms of Use and Non-use values by the contingent valuation method. The results illustrate the implications of a wider perspective regarding the impacts of a festival. Use value, representing the core experience, is the largest value (€7.4 million) but Non-use value is also important (€3 million). The latter includes the perceived value of externalities such as socio-cultural and environmental impacts which are highly relevant from a sustainability perspective. One conclusion is tha...

Estimating Use and Non-use Values of a Music Festival

Communities owning and living on ancestral land tend to have a strong sense of stewardship over the land and its resources, which may translate into an economic value to present generations of being able to pass on ancestral lands to future generations (i.e. bequest value). This study estimates bequest values to local users of a traditional fishing ground on the Coral Coast of Fiji, using a contingent valuation approach. Using monetary as well as time-based contributions, bequest values are estimated at between FJ$1.25–1.41 (US$0.64–0.73) per individual per week, or FJ$183.90 (US$106.91) per household per year. This represents a significant proportion of stated average household expenditure, comparable to spending on durable household goods, and clothes and footwear. These results suggest that low-income groups may have significant bequest values, which should be accounted for in developing-economy valuation studies.

E.C.M. Ruijgrok

Papers

The three economic values of cultural heritage: a case study in the Netherlands