The Economic Value of Cultural Institutions - a benefit transfer study

Measuring the economic value of cultural sites and institutions poses challenges. Traditional economic impact studies have tended to value the market benefits of culture, such as the impacts on employment and gross value added. This ignores the important contribution that culture and cultural institutions play in people's lives. This value is harder to assess as market prices will not exist where cultural institutions/places are free to use or access. However an understanding of this is required for policy evaluation and investment decisions, and not valuing these benefits risks that the activities which generate them are under-appreciated.

To further the evidence base in this area, the research is estimating the value of culture at four historic towns/cities and for four cultural institutions located within them (cathedrals or regional art galleries, for example). It will quantify in monetary terms the use values (the values that those who directly use the site put on being able to use them) and non-use values (including the value that non-users place on the sites' existence). The valuation estimates will be obtained using a methodology that meets the criteria required by the UK Government in its evaluation guidance and so will contribute to the evidence base for public investment in culture. The data used in the study will be collected through an online survey.

Valuations will be estimated using a contingent valuation methodology, where those surveyed are asked to consider their valuation of the site/institution in the context of a hypothetical scenario that makes them meaningfully consider their valuation in monetary terms. For example, how much they might be prepared to pay to prevent the scenario of damage to a site. The research will also examine the capacity for benefits transfer (i.e. the extent to which values from particular sites can be robustly applied to value other sites), allowing the findings from the study to be potentially applied to other cultural sites. This will be assessed by analysing whether the values estimated are comparable within the sites in the analysis.

The research will estimate financial measures of the value that four places and four cultural sites located within them provide for users and non-users. These estimates will be of direct benefit for the sites/institutions in demonstrating the value of their cultural contributions. The sites selected for analysis will be chosen so that they are comparable in terms of size/situation. The research will also test the robustness of the valuation estimates across sites by analysing how they compare between the sites/places analysed. If the results are comparable across sites, this will, under some assumptions, enable the findings to be applied at sites similar to those in the study.

The research will therefore have a positive impact in that the cultural sector may draw on robust valuation estimates without incurring the costs of further primary data collection at their sites. As the research methodology is consistent with Government guidance on evaluation, it will be possible for civil servants and institutions to use the findings in cost-benefit analysis. The research is therefore of direct policy relevance for Government and the cultural and heritage sectors.